Dominic Bezzina - Institutum Philosophicum

Dominic Bezzina (18th/19th centuries) was a minor Maltese philosopher who mainly specialised in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

. He also dealt with

logic Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

Life

It seems that Bezzina was born around the mid-18th century. After becoming a priest, he taught

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

at the Cathedral School at

Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melite (ancient city), Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdin ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. He was also a Canon at the Bishop's Cathedral Chapter. Bezzina taught at

at least since 1819. One of the courses he delivered concerned

Extant work

Bezzina's only extant work is called ''Institutum Philosophicum'' (Philosophical Teaching). It is still in manuscript form,Archive of the Archbishop’s Seminary,

Rabat, Malta Rabat ( mt, Ir-Rabat, ) is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of 11,497 as of March 2014. It adjoins the ancient capital city of Mdina, and a north-western area formed part of the Roman city of Melite until its medieva ...

, Misc. 21. and contains 171 back to back folios. Unfortunately, the document is certainly incomplete. The extant manuscript is just the first part of a larger work. It is not known how many further part the whole work contained. The extant part of the ''Institutum'' concerns logic. The division is typically that of

Scholasticism 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 ...

, organised in books, chapters, and articles. Throughout the work Bezzina discusses the nature and conditions of Aristotelian logic, consciousness, and the genesis of ideas.

Life

Extant work

References

Sources

See also