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Tell us about yourself: where do you come from, what was your initial academic background?
I enrolled for a degree in Philosophy at Ca' Foscari in 1972. The Faculty of Letters and Philosophy had just been founded, and the most important lecturer at the time was Emanuele Severino, who had moved here from the Cattolica in Milan. In Venice, the philosophical scene was almost totally dominated by him and his students (Ruggiu, Vigna, Ruggenini, Petterlini, Galimberti, Natoli, Valent, Tarca), who had not yet distanced themselves from their master, as was only the case in the following decades. Us young students, with our high school philosophical training, were immediately captivated by their radical and compact philosophical theory and by the charm that Severino exuded during his lectures. After a few months, we had all become 'Severinians', but in the following years most of us also realised the limitations and unresolved problems inherent in that approach and inevitably sought other paths.

What were the reasons for leaving behind that initial enthusiasm for Severino?
It was the early 1970s, well into the post-1968 climate. Marxism was then the central reference for those like me who were actively involved in the student movement. The decision to pursue a university course in philosophy was dictated precisely by the need to find a philosophical foundation for political action, but also by the need to think philosophy in close connection with praxis and not as abstract speculation. Severino's philosophy clearly could not provide an answer to those questions. And yet, it was from that lesson that I had learnt perhaps the most important thing, namely the need for a rigorous foundation of philosophical discourse, and it was with that approach that I then turned to contemporary thought.

What was your subsequent academic path and your further philosophical references?
Severino's critique of Marxism made me realise that it was necessary to update that thought to the most radical instances of contemporary thought (from Nietzsche to Weber, from Heidegger to Wittgenstein), and the philosophical approach of the Frankfurt School seemed the inevitable landing place, because it combined those instances with a critical and sophisticated form of post-Marxism. I thus welcomed Ruggiu's suggestion that I tackle Habermas' philosophy as a topic for my thesis under his direction. After that, at the beginning of 1978, I got on the train and went to see him in Starnberg (where he then directed the Max Planck), but by the end of that year I had already moved to Frankfurt in order to attend his lectures, as well as those – equally fundamental – of Apel. It was during that period in Frankfurt that my real philosophical education took place. Only later, some ten years later, did I begin to study Hegel seriously, but always from the post-metaphysical perspective I had gained in Frankfurt.

What have been your greatest professional satisfactions?
Being able to work side by side with great philosophers such as Severino – during my first experience in Venice –, Habermas and Apel – during my later experience in Frankfurt -, Gadamer – who I invited to Venice several times and then met again during my time in Heidelberg -, Bubner – who tutored me in Frankfurt and then invited me to Heidelberg –, Theunissen and Wellmer in Berlin in the 1990s, and Honneth – the philosopher I have most dealt with over the last two decades. On the other hand, I have never liked either philosophical congresses – whose 'parades' have never taught me anything, apart from some bibliographic literature – or international conference tours – which I have almost always refused to attend.

What is the aspect of your work that you are most passionate about and what does teaching and conducting research mean to you?
In addition to the individual work of reading, interpreting and dialoguing with texts, which is fundamental for a philosopher, I believe that true research can only be done in small seminar groups, possibly close-knit and cohesive; this is what I have long tried to do alongside Alessandro Bellan and Italo Testa in my Critical Theory Seminar in Venice, a true training ground for many young people and scholars which is now over and can no longer be replicated. But apart from this, teaching for and with students, being able to pass on to young people what we have been able to learn and see them grow, think and become autonomous is what really satisfies me.