Italian Enlightenment
By Riccardo Piroddi
Abstract: Nonostante la frammentazione politica e la dipendenza da potenze straniere, l’Illuminismo trovò terreno fertile in Italia, soprattutto a Napoli e Milano. Diversamente dalla versione francese, l’Illuminismo italiano vide una partecipazione attiva degli intellettuali alla vita politica e un confronto diretto con la Chiesa cattolica. L’obiettivo comune era la secolarizzazione, razionalizzazione e modernizzazione della società, ma il movimento non fu omogeneo e si adattò ai diversi contesti locali. Ludovico Antonio Muratori fu un pensatore centrale, fondendo i valori cristiani con gli ideali illuministi, promuovendo il miglioramento sociale come dovere morale. A Napoli, Antonio Genovesi e Gaetano Filangieri si concentrarono su riforme economiche e legali a favore dell’uguaglianza e dell’interesse della classe media. Mario Pagano, autore della Costituzione napoletana del 1799, fu giustiziato per le sue idee rivoluzionarie. A Milano, l’Illuminismo si sviluppò attorno alla rivista Il Caffè, con Pietro Verri tra i principali esponenti, sostenitore della libertà politica ed economica e della riforma della giustizia. Cesare Beccaria, con Dei delitti e delle pene, propose una riforma radicale del diritto penale, opponendosi alla pena di morte e alla tortura, in nome dell’uguaglianza e dell’utilità sociale. Infine, Giambattista Vico si distinse dal razionalismo dominante proponendo una visione storica ciclica dello sviluppo umano, fondata sull’immaginazione, la provvidenza divina e la centralità della storia nella comprensione delle società. La sua Scienza Nuova rappresenta un’anticipazione della filosofia della storia e un’alternativa profonda alla visione lineare dell’Illuminismo.
Despite Italy’s political fragmentation and its dependence on foreign rulers, the Enlightenment movement took root, particularly in Naples and Milan. The Italian Enlightenment differed from its French counterpart in two key ways: its intellectuals actively participated in governmental activities, and they engaged with the Catholic Church. A common goal among Italian Enlighteners was the secularization, rationalization, and modernization of political life.
However, the Italian Enlightenment was not a uniform movement, as it unfolded across various political and social contexts. One of its most significant theorists was Ludovico Antonio Muratori, who influenced most of the political reform programs of the 18th century. Muratori combined Enlightenment ideals with Christian values, specifically linking the Enlightenment theme of happiness with the evangelical concepts of charity and love of neighbour, asserting that it was everyone’s responsibility to improve society according to these principles.
In Naples, economic reform was a focus for thinkers like Antonio Genovesi, who advocated for the middle class’s commercial interests and promoted equality among all humans, opposing the privileges of the Church and the nobility. Genovesi’s ideas were further developed by Gaetano Filangieri, who proposed widespread legal reforms based on equality. His vision included the abolition of entailed estates (to break up large landholdings), state-provided education (instead of religious control), and freedom of the press.
Mario Pagano (1748–1799), who drafted the Neapolitan Constitution of 1799, also played a significant role in the Italian Enlightenment. He was executed alongside other Jacobins by King Ferdinand I of Bourbon for their revolutionary activities.
In Milan, the Enlightenment centered around the magazine Il Caffè, with its contributors focusing on both economic and legal issues. Pietro Verri, one of its leading figures, emphasized the connection between political and economic freedom. He also advocated for judicial reform, recognizing the need to modernize Italy’s justice system as a crucial element of the broader Enlightenment goal of rational governance.
Cesare Beccaria
Cesare Beccaria (1738–1794) advanced groundbreaking ideas for criminal law reform in his seminal work On Crimes and Punishments, which garnered widespread support across Europe. Central to Beccaria’s argument was the call for the complete abolition of both the death penalty and torture. He advocated for legal systems that ensured certainty and clarity in the law, as well as a strict separation of powers—particularly between the legislative and judicial branches—and the clear distinction between the roles of judge and executioner.
Beccaria’s work was deeply influenced by egalitarian principles and reflected a contractualist and utilitarian view of the state. His vision emphasized that laws should serve the greatest good for the greatest number while respecting individual rights. His ideas remain highly relevant today for their forward-thinking approach to criminal justice, focusing on fairness, humanity, and the prevention of state abuse.
Giambattista Vico
Giambattista Vico (1668–1744) occupied a unique position in 18th-century Italy, standing somewhat apart from the mainstream Enlightenment. His work, The Scienza Nuova (The New Science, 1744), offered a critical alternative to Enlightenment rationalism, particularly the Cartesian emphasis on intellect and logic. Instead, Vico championed the imagination as a key faculty, one that could understand both human actions and divine providence, which he saw as guiding human affairs.
Vico’s philosophy centered on the relationship between wisdom and politics. He argued that politics often arises from the use of force but lacks a foundation in true human wisdom. Through Vico, sociological reflection entered a new realm of thought, as his work was the first to place philosophical focus on the historical nature of social structures, the development of cultural systems, and humanity as a whole. He drew important distinctions between the natural sciences (which study the physical world) and the sciences of the spirit (which include history). For Vico, history alone was capable of grasping the complexity of cultural evolution as it unfolds through the historical process.
Vico’s Scienza Nuova laid the groundwork for the philosophy of history, a field that examines the relationship between historical events and the development of social systems. He proposed that the legal system is not an artificial construct but a product of human history, summarizing the evolution of mankind. In Vico’s view, history reflects human action, while providence is the eternal, divine force guiding these actions. Though God’s providence shapes history, it acts through human beings, intertwining divine purpose with human activity.
Vico divided human history into three distinct ages: the Age of the Gods, the Age of Heroes, and the Age of Humans, each corresponding to a form of government—namely theocracy, aristocracy-monarchy, and democracy. He rejected the Enlightenment’s linear view of progress, instead proposing that humanity develops in cycles or spirals. Each nation, according to Vico, goes through a historical cycle of birth, progress, and eventual decline. This cyclical pattern is driven not by divine providence but by the unfolding of real-world events and human actions.
Vico’s vision of history, as a blend of divine and human elements, broke from the strictly rationalistic and mathematical methods of the Enlightenment, offering a more holistic view that integrates imagination, providence, and historical process.
