George di Giovanni

George di Giovanni (born 1935) is an emeritus professor of philosophy at McGill University. He specializes in German idealism, nineteenth century philosophy, phenomenology (Husserl and Merleau-Ponty), and philosophy of religion.

Life and works

George di Giovanni completed his classical studies in Rome at the Ginnasio Torquato Tasso, and pursued university studies in Toronto and, periodically, in Germany. He earned his PhD from the University of Toronto in 1970, with a dissertation titled "Contingency: Its Foundation in Hegel’s Logic of Becoming," under the supervision of Emil Fackenheim.

Di Giovanni produced a new translation of Hegel's Science of Logic in 2010, following previous translations by Johnston and Struthers (1929) and A. V. Miller (1969). In addition to his translation, di Giovanni wrote a substantial introduction that, according to John W. Burbidge, provides the best discussion of the development of Hegel's logic during the Jena period. In this introduction, di Giovanni argues that, unlike general or formal logic, Hegel's logic is best interpreted as a form of Kantian transcendental logic. Several reviewers have noted that di Giovanni's translation represents an improvement over previous English versions.

In his work Between Kant and Hegel, co-edited with H. S. Harris, di Giovanni provided translations of selected writings by K. L. Reinhold, G. E. Schulze, S. Maimon, and J. S. Beck, which had a major impact on the anglophone reception of German idealism.

Selected publications

Translations

Edited volumes

Monographs