Intuizione sive espressione. Le due anime dell'Estetica di Croce

The paper aims to expand on the indication provided by Adriano Tilgher in 1931, referring to the existence of a dual philosophical matrix in Benedetto Croce’s Aesthetics. As is well-known, Croce’s work combines the concepts of ‘intuition’ and ‘expression’ in a problematic equation. In the first part of the paper, the focus is on the origins of Croce’s concept of ‘intuition’: his early debt towards Neo-Kantianism (more so than towards Vico and De Sanctis) will be considered, along with his reinterpretation of transcendental aesthetics. The concept of «expression», on the other hand, echoes a different tradition – the Romantic and Idealist one – to which Croce rarely showed appreciation. The only exception is Friedrich Schleiermacher, an author to whom Croce devotes significant reflections in the Aesthetics. The final section of the paper examines his affinities with Schleiermacher, highlighting how the Italian philosopher attempted to reconcile an idea of aesthetics as a ‘theory of sensibility’ with another perspective revolving around the problem of the expressive act.