Leon Battista Alberti e il tema della morte

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze the concept and value of death in Leon Battista Alberti’s moral reflection. First, I will study the philosophical sources that influence his concept of death and his considerations on the relationship between death and life. Therefore, I will examine the key passages of the works in which Alberti questions death as a natural end and the most appropriate way of dealing with it. Secondly, I will analyze his narrative use of the dead, especially in the Defunctus. Thus, the aim of my research is to demonstrate the philosophical coherence of Alberti’s reflection on death, according to which even the literary fiction of the speaking dead gains a specific value.