Francesco Maria Zanotti | |
---|---|
Born | 6 January 1692
Bologna, Papal States |
Died | 25 December 1777
(aged 85) Bologna, Papal States |
Occupation | Writer, philosopher |
Francesco Maria Zanotti Cavazzoni (Bologna, 6 January 1692 – Bologna, 25 December 1777) was an Italian philosopher and writer. [1] Besides being a writer, he was also a commentator on works of art. He was considered an authoritative source on many topics.[ by whom?]
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, and in 1723 he was appointed as secretary of Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli. Initially a Cartesian, he became a follower of Newton. [1] In 1728 Francesco Algarotti experimented with light in his lab, replicating the prism and spectrum experiments of Isaac Newton. [2] [3] In 1741 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society. [4]
Zanotti's 1741 essay on the 'attractive force of ideas' defended a view of the association of ideas influenced by Newtonian physics. In 1754 Zanotti criticised Pierre-Louis Maupertuis for his views on Stoicism and Christianity, and was drawn into controversy about Stoicism with the Dominican professor Casto Innocenzio Ansaldi. [1]
In 1766 he became president of Institute of Science in Bologna. [5] In 1775 Benjamin Wilson (painter) began a correspondence with Zanotti on phosphor. [6]
His brother, Giampietro Cavazzoni Zanotti was a Writer, painter, and art historian; Eustachio Zanotti was a famous astronomer and hydraulic engineer. [7] [8] His nephew was the philosopher and writer Manuel Lassala. [9]