Francesco Maria Zanotti Cavazzoni (Bologna, 6 January 1692 – Bologna, 25 December 1777) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

philosopher and writer. Besides being a writer, he was also a commentator on works of art. He was considered an authoritative source on many topics.

Life

He was the son of Giampietro Zanotti, and a pupil of Eustachio Manfredi. In 1718 he became professor of philosophy at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna (, abbreviated Unibo) is a Public university, public research university in Bologna, Italy. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as guilds of students () by the late 12th century. It is the ...

, and in 1723 he was appointed as secretary of

Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli Count (nobility), Count Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (or Marsigli, ; 10 July 1658 – 1 November 1730) was an Italian scholar and natural scientist, who also served as an emissary and soldier. Biography Born in Bologna, he was a member of an an ...

. Initially a Cartesian, he became a follower of Newton. In 1728

Francesco Algarotti Count Francesco Algarotti (11 December 1712 – 3 May 1764) was an Italian polymath, philosopher, poet, essayist, anglophile, art critic and art collector. He was a man of broad knowledge, an expert in Newtonianism, architecture and opera. He w ...

experimented with light in his lab, replicating the

prism PRISM is a code name for a program under which the United States National Security Agency (NSA) collects internet communications from various U.S. internet companies. The program is also known by the SIGAD . PRISM collects stored internet ...

and

spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

experiments of

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

. In 1741 he became a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

. Zanotti's 1741 essay on the 'attractive force of ideas' defended a view of the

association of ideas Association of ideas, or mental association, is a process by which representations arise in consciousness, and also for a principle put forward by an important historical school of thinkers to account generally for the succession of mental phenome ...

influenced by

Newtonian physics Classical mechanics is a physical theory describing the motion of objects such as projectiles, parts of machinery, spacecraft, planets, stars, and galaxies. The development of classical mechanics involved substantial change in the methods ...

. In 1754 Zanotti criticised Pierre-Louis Maupertuis for his views on

Stoicism Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished in ancient Greece and Rome. The Stoics believed that the universe operated according to reason, ''i.e.'' by a God which is immersed in nature itself. Of all the schools of ancient ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, and was drawn into controversy about Stoicism with the Dominican professor Casto Innocenzio Ansaldi. In 1766 he became president of Institute of Science in Bologna. In 1775 Benjamin Wilson began a correspondence with Zanotti on

phosphor A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of luminescence; it emits light when exposed to some type of radiant energy. The term is used both for fluorescent or phosphorescent substances which glow on exposure to ultraviolet or ...

Family

His brother, Giampietro Cavazzoni Zanotti was a writer, painter, and art historian; Eustachio Zanotti was a famous astronomer and hydraulic engineer. His nephew was the philosopher and writer Manuel Lassala. Google Books website, ''Ad clarissimum virum Eustachium Zanottum Bononiensis Scientiarum Instituti praesidem perpetuum carmina quibus celeberrimi ejusdem patrui Francisci Mariae Zanotti luctuosissimam mortem deflebat Emmanuel Lassala Romanae Arcadiae pastor''
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Works

*''La forza attrattiva delle idee'' (1747) *''La filosofia morale secondo i peripatetici'' (1754) *''Dell'arte poetica'' (1758) *''Lettere famigliari in difesa della Felsina Pittrice'' *''Delle lodi delle belle arti'' *''Dialogo in difesa di G. Reni'' *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zanotti, Francesco Maria 1777 deaths 1692 births Academic staff of the University of Bologna 18th-century Italian philosophers Fellows of the Royal Society