In the Light of the Ancient Wisdom: In Commemoration of Giovanni Reale (trans. P. Mikulska)

Josef SEIFERT

John Paul II Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , Poland

Patrycja MIKULSKA

John Paul II Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , Poland

Abstract

The paper presents the personality and various areas of the activity of Giovanni Reale, an Italian scholar who died on 15 October 2014, at the age of 83. The author shows Reale not only as a prominent historian of philosophy, but also as an independent thinker. He focuses on Reale’s discussion with the interpretation of Plato’s dialogues proposed by the scholars of the Tübingen School, claiming that a realistic interpretation of the concepts of the human soul and of the figure of the Demiurge belongs among the most important contributions of the Italian philosopher to Platonic scholarship. Describing Reale’s commitment to his work as a teacher and publisher, the author stresses the former’s cooperation with the International Academy of Philosophy in the Principality of Liechtenstein.

Summarized by Patrycja Mikulska

Keywords:

history of philosophy, Italian philosophy, the Tübingen School, International Academy of Philosophy in the Principality of Liechtenstein, Platonism, realism, soul, the Demiurge,