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Research

My DPhil project, Giacomo Leopardi and the Roots of Existentialism, redefines the origins of existentialism by positioning the Italian poet and philosopher Giacomo Leopardi (1798-1837) as the initiator of atheistic existentialism.  

 

Selected publications 

Peer-reviewed articles:

  • 'Leopardi’s Response to Wittgenstein', Rivista Internazionale di Studi Leopardiani (RISL) 18 (2025), accepted, forthcoming 2026 (invited).
  • 'Leopardi in latino', The Italianist (2025): https://doi.org/10.1080/02614340.2025.2504781.
  • 'Infinite or Indefinite? Leopardi’s Infinite through the Lens of Fyodor Dostoevsky', Italian Studies (2024): https://doi.org/10.1080/00751634.2024.2383545. Ranked amongst the top 25 most read articles in the history of Italian Studies (top ~ 2.5%). 
  • 'La traduzione latina dell’Inno ai patriarchi ad opera di Girolamo Picchioni: uno studio stilistico', Rivista Internazionale di Studi Leopardiani (RISL) (2023): https://doi.org/10.7413/1129-9401027.
  • 'Leopardi primo nichilista d'Europa: le letture di Emanuele Severino e Luigi Capitano', Il Contributo. Rivista di filosofia (2023). 

Chapters in edited books: 

  • 'Freedom as the Hallmark of Human Dignity: Existentialism and Artificial Intelligence', Borders. Dialectics. Civility, ed. by T. Lanzendörfer (Bloomsbury, accepted, forthcoming 2026). Selected by editor amongst ~ 160 essays to open the volume. 
  • 'Leopardi’s Reception in Existentialism. I', Giacomo Leopardi: Reading, Reception and Legacy in Europe (Legenda, accepted, forthcoming 2026) (invited).
  • “Leopardi’s Reception in Existentialism. II', co-authored with F. Marchionni. Giacomo Leopardi: Reading, Reception and Legacy in Europe (Legenda, accepted, forthcoming 2026) (invited). 
  • ‘L’esistenzialismo ateo di Giacomo Leopardi’, in Leopardi in Europa, ed. by C. Crocco (Mimesis: Milan-Udine, forthcoming).
  • ‘L’esistenzialismo di Leopardi e l’essenzialismo estremo di Severino.’ Dopo Leopardi. Rifrazioni contemporanee del leopardismo filosofico, ed. by L. Capitano and A. Meccariello (Mimesis: Milan-Udine, 2025).
  • 'La figura di Prometeo nelle riscritture di Leopardi e Pavese', in Contaminazioni leopardiane, ed. by O. A. Calzolari, A. Aloisi, and E. Tandello (Mimesis: Milan-Udine, 2024).

Edited Journal Special Issues: 

  • Special Issue 'New Approaches to Leopardi', ed. by L. Costa and A. Aloisi. Journal of Italian Philosophy (accepted, forthcoming 2026).

Public engagement:

  • 'How existential philosophy can help you to cope with anguish' in The Conversation (2025). Link.
  • 'La filosofia esistenziale di Giacomo Leopardi', Live Talk on Ermanno Ferretti's YouTube channel (2025). Link.
  • 'Existentialism Didn’t Start with Kierkegaard – The New Face of Existentialism' [podcast episode] Spotify, 2025. Link. 

 

Teaching experience

  • Tutor of Italian, Department of Italian, University of Oxford (2023-2024)

    Course: academic essay writing (undergraduate level).

  • Invited Lecturer, Department of French, UCL (2025)

    Lecture on Albert Camus for undergraduate students.

  • Clarendon Tutor of Philosophy, University of Oxford (2023-2024)

    Biweekly tutorials on ethics and existentialism for visiting undergraduates.

     

Academic administration