Croce e la tradizione nazionale

Apart from his activity as a philosopher and historian, Benedetto Croce has always tried to maintain a strong bound to his cultural tradition, that is with his intellectual ancestors. Among them, a special place is occupied by Francesco De Sanctis, Silvio Spaventa and Antonio Labriola. By publishing their writings between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, Croce highlighted this legacy especially in their understanding of public education and university. The idea of «science» developed in this context plays a decisive role in the cultural politics of Croce, in this sense very similar to Gentile’s one, despite the ideological diversities dividing them, after the consolidation of Fascist regime in Italy.