Sossio Giametta
Sossio Arturo Giametta was an Italian philosopher, translator and journalist.
Biography
After graduating in law, towards the end of the 1950s, Giametta met Giorgio Colli and Mazzino Montinari. He worked with them for four years, between Florence and Weimar, on a seminal critical edition of Friedrich Nietzsche's works, becoming one of the greatest contributors to the dissemination of Nietzsche's thought in Italy.He has translated all the works and most important posthumous writings of Nietzsche, of whom he is considered one of Italy's foremost experts. Additionally, he has translated nearly all of Schopenhauer's works and crucial texts by Caesar, Spinoza, Goethe, Freud, and Max Stirner.
He also wrote several novels and short stories, marked by strong philosophical and moral value. This trait led Italian writer Raffaele La Capria to describe Giametta's prose as an astonishing encounter of literature and philosophy. As a journalist and essayist, he collaborated with several Italian newspapers, including Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, and Il Giornale.
Over the years, particularly since his 'Trilogy of Essentialism', Giametta developed his own philosophical system. He described it as follows: "Essentialism is a new philosophy, based exclusively on nature, understood in its two aspects, both as naturans and as naturata. Essentialism describes the human condition as determined by the combination of two heterogeneous elements: the essence of all that exists, which is divine, and the conditions of existence, which are often all too diabolical. The balancing of these two elements, different in each individual, explains the eternal reasons why one believes or disbelieves, affirms or denies life, is optimistic or pessimistic."
Sossio Giametta died on January 15, 2024, at the age of 94, in Brussels, where he had moved in 1965 and worked for 30 years at the Council of Ministers of the European Union.
Main Works
As a translator
- F. Nietzsche, Frammenti postumi 1887 - 1888, Adelphi 1971,.
- F. Nietzsche, Umano, troppo umano, Adelphi 1979,.
- F. Nietzsche, Umano, troppo umano, Adelphi 1981,.
- F. Nietzsche, Scritti su Wagner, Adelphi 1979,.
- F. Nietzsche, La nascita della tragedia, Adelphi 1978,.
- F. Nietzsche, Sull'utilità e il danno della storia per la vita, Adelphi 1974,.
- F. Nietzsche, Così parlò Zarathustra, BUR 1985,.
- F. Nietzsche, Schopenhauer come educatore, BUR 2004,.
- F. Nietzsche, La gaia scienza-Idilli di Messina, BUR 2004,.
- F. Nietzsche, Verità e menzogna: La visione dionisiaca del mondo, La filosofia nell'epoca tragica dei greci, Su verità e menzogna in senso extramorale, BUR 2006,.
- A. Schopenhauer, I due problemi fondamentali dell'etica. Testo tedesco a fronte, Bompiani 2019,.
- A. Schopenhauer, Controstoria della filosofia, La nave di Teseo 2023,.
- B. Spinoza, Etica, Bollati Boringhieri 2021,.
- J. W. Goethe, Massime e riflessioni, BUR 2013,.
- S. Freud, L'avvenire di un'illusione e Il disagio della civiltà. Ediz. integrale, New Compton 2016,.
- M. Stirner, L'unico e la sua proprietà. Testo tedesco a fronte, Bompiani 2018,.