The question of education in the thought of Carlo Pisacane

Abstract

The Italian Risorgimento left behind a series of figures and personalities that have become part of the mythopoiesis of a modern nation. An important role was played by the figure of Carlo Pisacane, who on many occasions was stripped of his philosophical-political stance to make way for the figure of the Risorgimento martyr or romantic passionate. We want here to follow in the footsteps of those who have paid particular attention to Pisacane’s political, philosophical and social thought, describing him as a precursor of socialism, anarchism and the idea of a republican Italy united in an assembly of communes. The purpose of this paper is to offer reflections on the problem of education in Pisacane, a subject that very few historians and biographers of Pisacane have addressed and that he himself treated only in passing, but to which he gave an important place in his work. Although he was not an educator or pedagogue, Pisacane attempted to sketch a model of national education because he felt it necessary to complete his description of the social order that would emerge from the new social pact and to emphasize the importance that would be given to education and the pedagogical function in the future organization of the masses.