ON OCTOBER 17, 1910, a young man took his life with two pistol shots, having recently completed an ambitious thesis in philosophy, Persuasion and Rhetoric, which would become one of the least read masterpieces of 20th-century thought. The young man’s name was Carlo Michelstaedter. At the time of his death, he was 23. In English-speaking circles, Michelstaedter remains virtually unknown over a century after his death. Unsurprisingly, his suicide looms large over his work, inviting speculation … Dylan J. Montanari-An Alternative Common Sense: Notes on Carlo Michelstaedter’s PhilosophyRead more
