Understanding our past includes also appreciating the ideas with which life was worked out. My most recent scientific research, 20th Century Philosophy in Malta, published by Agius & Agius Books, provides the tools for doing precisely this. Throughout the last century Malta has gone through a thorough development of concepts and ideas that still influences us today. Getting to know it better can profit us in a myriad of ways.

Patience and detail

My intensive and constant research concerning philosophy in Malta has been going on for the last 20 years or so. This meant exploring private and public archives and libraries both in Malta and abroad. Since most of the documents I examined were manuscripts (hundreds of them), these had to be first identified, then deciphered and finally thoroughly inspected.

Such a research could not be restricted to a single period of time or to a particular genre of philosophy. One has to approach such work with an open mind and with great sensitivity. One has to let the documents speak to the researcher, so to say, and accept what they offer. Of course, this work requires great patience and a special attention to detail.

The Maltese philosophical tradition goes back to the end of the 16th century. It embraces all the possible fields of the philosophical discipline. It changes its guise and content according to the different perspectives and interpretations that philosophy itself was given across the ages.

Understandably, this research requires meticulous and immediate cataloguing. Every document, whether it is printed or in manuscript form, has to be recorded in all its details: its size, the type of paper and ink used, the method of its presentation, its page numbering or lack thereof, the division of the content itself, and many other such minute details. Sure enough, one searches for the least indication of the author of any particular work (which is not always easy) and for the time and place of its composition.

A hundred fascinating years

My new book, 20th Century Philosophy in Malta, presents a small part of this research. As the name of the publication indicates, it deals only with the last 100 years of the Maltese philosophical tradition. Moreover, the philosophers presented in the book – around 15 in all – are not all those who worked in the field during this period but only those whom I consider to be the most outstanding. In the publication I give the cultural background of those chosen, a short biography, the presentation of their most representative philosophical compositions, and, most importantly, a brief analysis of their particular philosophy. Nine of these philosophers are still living.

Four of the philosophers chosen are given some more space and attention than others. These are Manuel Dimech, Edward de Bono, Peter Serracino Inglott and Kenneth Wain. I do this because I consider their philosophical contribution particularly relevant to the Maltese philosophical tradition of the 20th century. The last three mentioned are still active till this day, and this makes their presentation in the book necessarily provisional.

This book, however, is not simply a presentation of a number of Maltese philosophers who lived and worked during the last century. It is more than that. It is a brief history of the Maltese philosophical tradition during the last 100 years or so. To this effect, the book presents the historic background and development against which Maltese philosophers worked, and which made their work possible. From the first up till the last page the reader is invited to follow the main historical and intellectual events that had left the most enduring effect on the life and thinking processes of the Maltese from the 1900s onwards.

A true philosopher

20th Century Philosophy in Malta is built around the basic idea that philosophers are the products, but also in some way the producers, of their time. Neither philosophers nor their philosophies exist in a vacuum. Philosophy essentially consists in tentative answers given to questions that arise in the various spheres of life. These questions proceed from political or social sources. Philosophers attempt to answer them with disciplined thought processes so as to understand them better and indicate a way how various concrete situations of life can be tackled.

What a true philosopher usually does is to investigate and evaluate realities that impress him most, both within himself and around him, while seeking to understand them in a thoroughly disciplined and systematic way. The main reason for doing this is generally to discover an appropriate route along which such realities can be appreciated and to set a definite focus to their discernment. In this way he would be sieving through a labyrinth of concepts and ideas, ultimately determining what is foundational to any argument and comprehension.

In other words, a philosopher tries to elucidate the realities of life and to offer a more or less clear vision that can help in assessing them better. This is precisely what I sought to indicate in my new book with regard to the main Maltese philosophers of the 20th century. I try to show what realities they identified and what visions they provided through their philosophical writings.

Criteria for inclusion

A basic question that implicitly runs throughout the whole book is one that concerns the nature of a philosopher. Who can be considered to be a philosopher? I submit that, though everybody embraces some kind of philosophy, not everyone may claim to be a philosopher. In a few words, though everyone has his or her personal mental guides with which life is judged and interpreted, only a few have the necessary academic preparation and intellectual inclination to do this is any disciplined and systematic way.

A philosopher does not simply have an opinion about things but, moreover, also explores the fundamental principles on which opinions, concepts and ideas are built. He or she probes these principles to discover their substance and their foundational reliability.

When deciding who should perhaps be considered a philosopher or not I take into consideration two main elements: the person’s academic preparation and his or her intellectual inclination. I consider the second element to be of some greater importance than the first. The reason is that one may have an outstanding academic preparation in philosophy, generally of a university type, but lacks the necessary philosophical attitude towards solving problems. Without this vital element, the first may be considered rather redundant.

On the other hand, when the actual study of someone’s philosophy is required I take into consideration a third element: one’s (literary) production. The reason is that it is practically impossible to arrive at any critical appreciation of a person’s personal philosophy if no literary production exists to support that philosophy.

Two main feelings

In itself, 20th Century Philosophy in Malta is unique in its genre. The history of Malta’s philosophical tradition has never been done, neither in part nor in whole. This is the first time. As such, then, the book must be considered to be no other than an attempt in this direction. In the presentation of the book, Peter Serracino Inglott expresses his satisfaction with the effort made. Last April, at the launching of the book, Joe Friggieri called the book “a good job”.

The book represents two main feelings. In the first place, it constitutes an act of gratitude towards those who have dedicated much of their life and intellectual energies to the philosophical discipline. Very often, most of these people worked hard, quite hidden from the public eye, making considerable personal sacrifices at the service of others. I feel that it is only decent to be grateful to them and to their dedication.

Secondly, the book presents the last link from the long sequence that makes up the Maltese philosophical tradition. Whoever may be interested in philosophy or in doing philosophy today may now have a more or less adequate guide to go by. The book may provide beneficial help to anyone who would like to continue Malta’s philosophical tradition in any meaningful way. I believe that philosophy has some kind of special significance in society, and having more people working in the field will surely profit us all.

However, the new book should not interest only those who in some way are attracted to philosophy. It should also interest all those who have a fascination with our cultural history and the history of ideas in general. Indeed, 20th Century Philosophy in Malta gives a brief description of the ideological development of a century that most of us lived and remember well. The book can be an appealing tool to better understand our past and maybe also to look towards the future with an intelligent eye.

The book is illustrated and contains various indexes. It can be bought from major book-sellers or from Agius & Agius, Hamrun. It costs e12. ISBN: 978-99909-91-31-4.