ABSTRACT
The analysis of Ugo Foscolo's life-long relationship with English culture newly articulates the pivotal function that Laurence Sterne's narrative exerted on Foscolo's self-representation. The investigation of the contribution of John Locke and David Hume's philosophy to Foscolo's epistemology is conducted for the most part on the corpus of Foscolo's letters. What emerges is the demonstration and a more forceful confirmation of the profound ties between English empiricism and his theory of knowledge, with fundamental ramifications for the ethical, aesthetic, and political realms. When considered within and without his fascination with Sterne's narrative, it manifests itself as a precocious and prolific interest that predates his 1816 self-imposed exile and develops according to specific lines that will remain almost unchanged during his London years. Once in England, Foscolo interprets authors and works of his adopted cultural milieu in a never-ending effort to explain them to himself and to explain himself through them.
