My Belief (2)
Not my dogmas, my dear Rossi, which I don’t think are dogmas, but my belief. It’s that simple. I have always nurtured my belief with concrete matters. This total and heartfelt embrace with the universe of phenomena has shaped my belief, my vision of things and of the world, and lastly my imperatives and my philosophy.
In my opinion, a philosophy which doesn’t have the ultimate particles of the materials of which we are composed as its starting point is not philosophy, but philosophical vulgarity. First the particles, and then the philosophy. In other words, we need to have facts as our starting point, to know the facts, to live them, the facts that have made us what we are. Only once we know the facts, my dear Rossi, only then can you think what you want, imagine yourself what you want and even desire other worlds if ours is too small for you. What is important, though, is that these are your ideas and not the ideas of others. Other people’s ideas, even when well formulated, are not yours. Only by creating one’s own philosophy does man really become a philosopher. There is no other way. Only by the sweat of our own brow do we merit this incomparable freedom of thought.
You have the right to believe what you like, Rossi, once you have read this book. My duty to you will have been to explain to you, of course within my limitations, the reality which surrounds us and to explain it to you according to the precepts of nature and culture. That’s what I have tried to do. If I haven’t succeeded, I apologize, but at least I have tried.
I have already told you that, when we overcome the reality surrounding us, when we venture into the metaphysical, beyond the real, when we feel at home in worlds created by our languages and our fantasy, when we leave the island on which we live, Kant would say, for the space where twilight, illusions, and the unexpected reign, then everyone will have to think for himself, everyone will have to create his own vision of life, because everyone, in such a dark and distant zone, will be alone. And that applies to you too, my dear friend Rossi.
Only your own consciousness counts. You can discuss it with others, of course, but it will always be yours, because it has reached the culmination of your vital experience, the point at which the subjective and the objective come together in a unique comprehension of the world, that of Rossi. That has a personal ontology in every respect: your ontology, your science of being, your faith and lastly, of course, your belief and philosophy.
Translated from the Italian by Joy Elizabeth Avery. Tel: 015.703954; Email: joyelizabethavery@tiscali.it
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