We have reached Issue 172! As you leaf through it, you will see just how rich in content it truly is. Perhaps I shouldn’t say so, but I will anyway: I feel a certain satisfaction. The credit, of course, goes to the authors who write for Prometheus, but also to that inexplicable quid that sometimes blesses journals, making harmonious even what, by design, tends toward eclecticism. After all, being multidisciplinary is part of our vocation: we have always been so, and today we are more convinced than ever of the need for thoughtful selection in a world that produces information and culture in such chaotic and confusing ways.
Before offering a few remarks on the articles in this December issue of Prometeo, I would like to share some other reflections. The end of this dense and complex 2025, just as happens whenever the year draws to a close, invites an inevitable reckoning. Provisional as it may be, it still presses on us with insidious questions: Did we do everything? Did we do it well? It is difficult to give an answer that is not too harsh (a certain self-deprecation is a common sport in publishing) or, conversely, too complacent toward oneself and one’s shortcomings. Yet, if I had to respond, I might frame the judgment as an Allegretto—a musical tempo that plays with oxymoron and corresponds to something “moderately fast.” So it is with us. We did not do everything, but we did enough.
We did not do it perfectly, but we did it reasonably well. And still, there is ample room to do more and better, and it would be inexcusable not to try.
It is, however, a pleasure to remind everyone that one of our most significant undertakings has been the digitization and restoration of the historical journal: we began from the most recent issue and have now uploaded the first ten issues online. This December, you will find issues 11 through 20 on the website. Some subscribers wrote to us reporting difficulty accessing them: be aware that active plug-ins on your computer may interfere with the process. As for our website, it is growing richer, with more contributions, and one of our New Year’s resolutions is to strengthen our presence even further, perhaps even by creating new pages. For now, we have expanded the infrastructure, that is, the available space, so that we will not be caught unprepared.
Another area of development will involve the English edition, which demands attention and care from everyone. The time has come to be, and to feel, international, and to take the necessary steps to assess the soundness of this project. Only time will tell.
Returning now to Issue 172, I cannot help but note with some pride that we are, if not the only ones, among the very few to have recalled an important anniversary in European history: the Peasant Wars of 1525. Alongside Federico Zuliani’s excellent report, which treats with rare clarity a bloody chapter of social conflict in Germany, we have also included a short but powerful philosophical text in which Armando Massarenti takes stock of a theme running through Luther’s Reformation, contemporaneous with Thomas Müntzer’s movement. A macro-theme, not without threads extending into our present. For example, it is richly explored in this issue’s Crossover section through four remarkable contributions: an interview with Nadia Urbinati on the relationship between democracy and power; Riccardo Manzotti’s decalogue on Freedom; Paolo Maria Mariano’s reflections on the role of Intellectuals; and Carlo Bordoni’s sharp look at the digital Existence that shapes our lives. The latter topic is also addressed from the perspective of generative artificial intelligence in no fewer than three articles, beginning with the conceptualization of a new term, Noosemia, which is sure to enter common usage.
My allotted space is running out, a pity, because many other features deserve mention in my letter as your editor. Instead, I conclude with a sincere expression of gratitude to our readers.
I extend my warmest wishes to all of you for the coming holidays and the new year!
Gabriella Piroli