Abstract

Barbara Carnevali and Giovanni Mari discuss Remo Bodei's Immaginare altre vite. "Realtà, progetti, desideri" ("Imagining Other Lives. Reality, Projects, and Desires"). The authors present the book main theses and critically analyze them. Carnevali outlines the forms of contemporary «Bovarism» and compares them with Bodei's analysis: what the book suggests is a virtuous and rule-governed use of imagination for a better living in a given context. Mari compares Bodei's view with Derek Parfit's, particularly emphasizing the role of imagination in the construction of the self. An analysis of the contemporary forms of precariousness, concerning one's job as well as one's identity is offered as an effective horizon for that construction.