Gaetano Sanseverino (7 August 1811 – 16 November 1865) was an Italian philosopher and theologian. He made a comparative study including the
scholastics, particularly
Thomas Aquinas, and of the connection between their doctrine and that of the
church fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
.
Biography
Gaetano Sanseverino was born in 1811 in
Naples.
Gaetano made his studies in the seminary in
Nola, 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, he continued the study of philosophy, with the special view of comparing the various systems. Gaetano also became a
canon of the cathedral of Naples, professor of logic and metaphysics in the
seminary, substitute professor of ethics in the university, and eventually ''scrittore'' in the National Library.
Sanseverino had been educated in the
Cartesian Cartesian means of or relating to the French philosopher René Descartes—from his Latinized name ''Cartesius''. It may refer to:
Mathematics
*Cartesian closed category, a closed category in category theory
*Cartesian coordinate system, modern ...
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
scholastics, particularly
St. Thomas Aquinas, 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. 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
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
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
Hume most commonly refers to:
* David Hume (1711–1776), Scottish philosopher
Hume may also refer to:
People
* Hume (surname)
* Hume (given name)
* James Hume Nisbet (1849–1923), Scottish-born novelist and artist
In fiction
* Hume, the ...
and
Gioberti
Vincenzo Gioberti (; 5 April 180126 October 1852) was an Italian Catholic priest, philosopher, publicist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Sardinia from 1848 to 1849. He was a prominent spokesman for liberal Catholicism.
Biog ...
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", 1853).
* ''Elementa philosophiæ christianæ'' (1864–70), written for the use of his classes, the last volume ("Ethics") being edited by his disciple Nunzio Signoriello.
See also
*
Pope Leo XIII
*
Luigi Taparelli
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