“Ahimè! fu sogno: ma sperar mi piace” Ippolito Pindemonte e il dubbio sulla raison illuministica

This essay investigates the works of Ippolito Pindemonte that were written between 1789 and the Napoleonic normalization, a moment when the concept of perfectibility and the optimistic rationalism seemed to be refuted by history. These works are highly significant in light of the future aesthetic-behavioural choices made by the author that attempt to answer many questions raised by Enlightenment philosophy and the French Revolution.