That which is ‘written poorly, is poorly thought.’ So wrote Croce in Estetica come scienza dell’espressione, referring to parts of a text that were inadequately expressed. Where the present translation succeeds is properly due to the philosopher’s own symmetry of words in addition to the indispensable (and fortunate) corrections, and invaluable comments, of those who generously gave of their time to read the manuscript while it was still a work in progress and to whom I remain grateful. I would like