L’evoluzione del concetto di «coscienza» in Rosmini

This article examines the evolution of the concept of “conscience” in Antonio Rosmini’s philosophy, from his early work La coscienza pura to later works such as Nuovo saggio sull’origine delle idee, Antropologia in servizio della scienza morale, and Psicologia. In these later works, Rosmini introduces the term “feeling [sentimento]” to describe the subject’s immediate, primitive self-awareness that becomes self-consciousness only through reflection. This feeling constitutes the subject and enables all operations. The author argues that Rosmini’s analysis overcomes boundaries between external and internal experience, as every sensation is accompanied by intellectual judgment. The article compares Rosmini’s thought with contemporary cognitive science’s “phenomenal consciousness.”

Study at a glance

Abstract

This article addresses the theme of “conscience” in Rosmini’s thought, beginning with a few brief considerations on his early work La coscienza pura, and then focusing on some later works – particularly Nuovo saggio sull’origine delle idee, Antropologia in servizio della scienza morale and Psicologia –, where the concept undergoes a certain evolution with respect to his early work. In these later works, indeed, Rosmini introduced the term “feeling [sentimento]”, referring to the awareness that the subject has of himself in an immediate and primitive way and which only later (namely: through reflection) becomes self-awareness. This feeling is therefore what essentially constitutes the subject and enables all his “operations”, from the perception of his own body through feeling to conscious self-reflection. For reasons of space, I will omit the significant contribution of the Teosofia – wherein the theme of consciousness is addressed in particular in the sixth book, dedicated to the real being, with particular reference to the theme of subjectivity, the relationship between consciousness and truth, and the doctrine of ontological synthesis in the human being. Rosmini’s analysis of the concept of “consciousness” and its evolution shows how the boundaries between external and internal experiences can be overcome. According to the philosopher, every sensation, which is possible by virtue of the fundamental feeling, is necessarily accompanied by intellectual judgment; otherwise, we would not be conscious of it. This theme will be the focus of this contribution; from there, we will attempt to engage in a brief comparison between Rosmini’s thought and the investigation of that quality of subjective experiences that contemporary cognitive sciences define as “phenomenal consciousness” – as distinct from “access consciousness”, which refers instead to the capacity to reflect on oneself and on such experiences.