The divergence between historical reality and moral ideal, in other words, the fight of vital and moral forces, is one of the most important priorities in Benedetto Croce’s ultimate philosophical thought. In this sense, he elaborates a deep criticism of the extreme Vitalism that led to the II World War, considered not as a categorical force of the spirit, but a force that can be identified with a kind of irrationality of individual origin. In this context, his reflections about religion and the relation with the state become very important, as well as the discovery of suffering, or to put in another way, the ethics of suffering, that replaces the previous “discovery of the utility” as another, and deeper, key to understand reality.
Troncarelli, Barbara. La categoría de la vitalidad en el último Croce. En: Zibaldone. Estudios italianos de La Torre del Virrey, 2014, Vol. 2, no. 2: 32-50
