WTI Magazine #44    2014 October, 1
Author : Giuseppina Salzano e Giovanni Verde      Translation by:

The moral, human and intellectual stature of Norberto Bobbio goes well beyond his outstanding academic merits. His life experience, his liberal (in the European sense) vision of the world, his freedom of judgment, combined with an extraordinary humanity, make of Bobbio one of the greatest Italian thinkers of '900.

Born in Turin on October 18, 1909, he studies with Luigi Einaudi and graduates in Law in 1931. He then gets a second degree in Philosophy in 1933, with honors too. In the meantime, he joins the National Fascist Party. He spends his youth, as he himself will later declare, "between a convinced fascism in my patriotic family, and a deep anti-fascism at school".

This ambivalence will dictate his academic guidance, always hovering between a realist position and an idealist orientation, an original vision that will allow him to analyze the European major events of the '900 through a thought always aimed to doubt. He himself will declare in the following years: "The task of intellectuals is today more than ever to sow doubts, not to collect certainties".

In 1942 Norberto Bobbio participates in the Liberal movement, and then enrolls at the Partito d'Azione (Action Party). He will be arrested in Padua in December 1943 for illegal activity and will remain three months in prison. In 1945 an anthology of his writings with the patriot Carlo Cattaneo is published, entitled "Stati Uniti d'Italia" (United States of Italy), where Bobbio emphasizes the need for federalism in Italy based on large centers of democratic participation.

In the 60s he is among the founders of the Faculty of Political Science, University of Turin, where he remains for 25 years. In the meantime he had begun his political activity in 1953, then entering in 1967 in the Constituent Assembly of the unified Socialist Party.

In the course of his political career he will never renounce to its freedom of thought. He will be a man of dialogue and moderation during the years of youth protests; a harsh critic of the state of the Italian democracy during the difficult 70s. And in 1981, on the eve of the referendum on abortion, he declares his opposition to abortion at any time and for any reason.

In 1984, "for honoring the Country with his outstanding achievements in social and scientific career", he is appointed Senator for life by President Sandro Pertini.

In 1994 Norberto Bobbio writes "Destra e sinistra" (Right and Left), an essay intended to generate a heated political debate in Italy. In recognition of a lifetime dedicated to the philosophy of law, between doubt and method, Bobbio will be awarded with honorary degrees by several universities, including Paris-Nanterre, the Complutense University of Madrid, the University of Bologna. Even in the 2000s, his thoughts on the Italian political situation, the lack of adequate parties, and his criticism of the European social democracy will be at the center of the political debate.

Norberto Bobbio dies in Turin on January 9, 2004. A man of immense cultural depth, Bobbio kept throughout his career, even in the wake of his convictions, a deep political freedom; and, even more precious, he kept his humanity, that he will always consider his true beacon of life.

Shortly before his death, he declared in an interview: "What matters in life are human relations. It is the only truly important thing. How many people you loved, how many did love you, how many have been close to you. The works, even if many, in the end do not count anything. The acts of love count".