GIOVANNI SANTINELLO (1922-2003) was full professor of the History of Philosophy in the Faculty of Education at the University of Padua, a member of the Accademia Galileiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Padua, the Director of the Institute for the History of Philosophy, and was awarded a Gold Medal for Merit in Education, Culture, and the Arts by the Ministry of Education. A pupil of Luigi Stefanini, in the course of his research he applied philosophical personalism to the field of historiography in the following areas: a) the ethical, religious, and aesthetic thought of the Renaissance (Nicolas of Kues, Leon Battista Alberti, Léfèvre d'Etaples, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Thomas More, Luigi Pesaro, Paolo Sarpi…); b) metaphysics and criticism in Immanuel Kant; and c) the history and theory of philosophical historiography in the modern and contemporary period. GREGORIO PIAIA (1944) is full professor of the History of Philosophy in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Padua. He has been vice-president of the Italian Philosophical Society, and is a member of the Accademia Galileiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Padua and the Ateneo of Treviso. He is currently Director of the Philosophy Department. His research has developed in three directions: a) political, ethical and religious thought in the late medieval and renaissance period (Marsilio da Padova, Nicolò da Cusa, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Thomas More…); b) the history and theory of philosophical historiography from the medieval period to the 20th century; and c) the philosophical culture of the Veneto in the 18th and 19th centuries.

• List of Abbreviations. .- Foreword to the English Edition (Gregorio Piaia) .- Preface to the Italian Edition (Giovanni Santinello).- Part I: The General Histories of Philosophy in France and in Italy, 1650-1750 (Gregorio Piaia).- Chapter I: The Histories of Philosophy in France in the Age of Descartes.- Chapter II: Philosophical Historiography in France from Bayle to Deslandes.- Chapter III: A "Critical" History of Philosophy and the Early Enlightenment: André-François Boureau-Deslandes.- Chapter IV: The General Histories of Philosophy in Italy in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Century.- Part II: The General Histories of Philosophy in Germany (Francesco Bottin and Mario Longo) .- Chapter V: The History of Philosophy from Eclecticism to Pietism (Francesco Bottin and Mario Longo).- Chapter VI: The Theory of "Historia Philosophica" (Mario Longo).- Chapter VII: Manuals of History of Philosophy from Heumann to Brucker (Mario Longo).- Chapter VIII: A "Critical" History of Philosophy and the Early Enlightenment: Johann Jakob Brucker (Mario Longo) .- Index of Names.- Index of Philosophical Schools and Sects.

GIOVANNI SANTINELLO (1922-2003) was full professor of the History of Philosophy in the Faculty of Education at the University of Padua, a member of the Accademia Galileiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Padua, the Director of the Institute for the History of Philosophy, and was awarded a Gold Medal for Merit in Education, Culture, and the Arts by the Ministry of Education. A pupil of Luigi Stefanini, in the course of his research he applied philosophical personalism to the field of historiography in the following areas: a) the ethical, religious, and aesthetic thought of the Renaissance (Nicolas of Kues, Leon Battista Alberti, Léfèvre d'Etaples, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Thomas More, Luigi Pesaro, Paolo Sarpi…); b) metaphysics and criticism in Immanuel Kant; and c) the history and theory of philosophical historiography in the modern and contemporary period. GREGORIO PIAIA (1944) is full professor of the History of Philosophy in the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the University of Padua. He has been vice-president of the Italian Philosophical Society, and is a member of the Accademia Galileiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti in Padua and the Ateneo of Treviso. He is currently Director of the Philosophy Department. His research has developed in three directions: a) political, ethical and religious thought in the late medieval and renaissance period (Marsilio da Padova, Nicolò da Cusa, Erasmus of Rotterdam, Thomas More…); b) the history and theory of philosophical historiography from the medieval period to the 20th century; and c) the philosophical culture of the Veneto in the 18th and 19th centuries.

• List of Abbreviations. .- Foreword to the English Edition (Gregorio Piaia) .- Preface to the Italian Edition (Giovanni Santinello).- Part I: The General Histories of Philosophy in France and in Italy, 1650-1750 (Gregorio Piaia).- Chapter I: The Histories of Philosophy in France in the Age of Descartes.- Chapter II: Philosophical Historiography in France from Bayle to Deslandes.- Chapter III: A "Critical" History of Philosophy and the Early Enlightenment: André-François Boureau-Deslandes.- Chapter IV: The General Histories of Philosophy in Italy in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Century.- Part II: The General Histories of Philosophy in Germany (Francesco Bottin and Mario Longo) .- Chapter V: The History of Philosophy from Eclecticism to Pietism (Francesco Bottin and Mario Longo).- Chapter VI: The Theory of "Historia Philosophica" (Mario Longo).- Chapter VII: Manuals of History of Philosophy from Heumann to Brucker (Mario Longo).- Chapter VIII: A "Critical" History of Philosophy and the Early Enlightenment: Johann Jakob Brucker (Mario Longo) .- Index of Names.- Index of Philosophical Schools and Sects.