La forza “morale” delle opere “poetiche”. Estetica e terapia in Leopardi

The aim of the paper is to show the close connection that is established, in Leopardi’s writing, between the properly aesthetic tenor of his style of reflection and the possible therapeutic function that his work is called upon to perform in relation to modernity. If the latter, in fact, is characterised by an increasingly marked tendency towards the negation of the body, and of the knowledge implicit in it, it is precisely in opposition to this tendency, that is,by way of remedy (or cure), that Leopardi elaborates his idea of “ultra-philosophy”. In this perspective, the article emphasises the strategically crucial role played, on the one hand, by the recognition of the “moral force” pertaining to “poetic books” (as books capable of “moving the imagination”) and, on the other, by the triple constellation “nature-body-mimesis”.