Gaetano Sanseverino (7 August 1811 – 16 November 1865) was an Italian philosopher and theologian. He made a comparative study including the

scholastics Scholasticism was a medieval school of philosophy that employed a critical organic method of philosophical analysis predicated upon the Aristotelian 10 Categories. Christian scholasticism emerged within the monastic schools that translate ...

, particularly

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known wit ...

, and of the connection between their doctrine and that of the church fathers.

Biography

Gaetano Sanseverino was born in 1811 in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. Gaetano made his studies in the seminary in

Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian wor ...

, where his uncle was

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

. After his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform v ...

, he continued the study of philosophy, with the special view of comparing the various systems. Gaetano also became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

of the cathedral of Naples, professor of logic and metaphysics in the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

, substitute professor of ethics in the university, and eventually ''scrittore'' in the National Library. Sanseverino had been educated in the Cartesian system, which at that time prevailed in the ecclesiastical schools of Italy, but his comparative study of the various systems supplied him with a deeper knowledge of the

, particularly

St. Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known ...

, and of the intimate connection between their doctrine and that of the church fathers. From that time until the end of his life, his only concern was the restoration of Christian philosophy, in which by his writings, lectures and conversation, he was of supreme assistance to

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

. With this object, in 1840, he founded ''La Scienza e la Fede'', a periodical which was continued until 1887 by his disciples and associates, Signoriello and d'Amelio. Gaetano Sanseverino died in Naples of cholera on 16 November 1865, at age 54.

Writings

*His principal work, ''Philosophia christiana cum antiqua et nova comparata'' (5 volumes, Naples, 1862), is incomplete, covering only logic and psychology, but the work is lucid in exposition, extensive in argument, and has a vast number of authors cited and discussed. *''I principali sistemi della filosofia del criterio, discussi colla dottrina de' Santi Padri e de' Dottori del Medio Evo'' (1850–53), in which he discusses and confutes the systems of Hume and Gioberti on the criterion of truth. *''La dottrina di S. Tommaso sull'origine del potere e sul preteso diritto di resistenza'' ("On the origin of authority and the pretended

right of resistance The right to resist is a nearly universally acknowledged human right, although its scope and content are controversial. The right to resist, depending on how it is defined, can take the form of civil disobedience or armed resistance against a tyra ...

", 1853). * ''Elementa philosophiæ christianæ'' (1864–70), written for the use of his classes, the last volume ("Ethics") being edited by his disciple Nunzio Signoriello.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanseverino, Gaetano 1811 births 1865 deaths 19th-century Neapolitan people Italian philosophers 19th-century Italian Roman Catholic theologians Deaths from cholera 19th-century Italian philosophers

Biography

Writings

See also

Notes

References