In Meditations on Various Points of Public and Private Hap-piness, Isidoro Bianchi – who had long been active in Sicil-ian cultural circles – clearly asserted: «Foreigners [...] alt-hough they do not belong to us with the same rights as civil society, belong to us with the right of nature». Starting from this consideration, this essay aims to investigate the princi-ple of «hospitality» that Bianchi – within the broader eight-eenth-century question of civilization/nature – intended to advocate for the purposes of concrete ethical and social re-form of the time. The “fraternal” exchange with other cul-tural forms also allowed for a more profound reflection on the political and civil system of one’s homeland: this is what he himself committed to doing, collecting and publishing some Letters regarding his stay – between 1774 and 1776 – in Denmark. The work, On the State of Science and Fine Arts in Denmark After the Mid-Eighteenth Century, offered «the most accurate idea» of the institutions, education, and literature of the Nordic countries, opening itself to useful critical observations on the structure of the two kingdoms of Naples and Sicily.
Nelle Meditazioni su vari punti di felicità pubblica e privata, l’abate Isidoro Bianchi – operante per lungo tempo negli ambienti culturali siciliani – asseriva chiaramente: «i Fore-stieri […] quantunque non ci appartenghino coll’istesso di-ritto di Società civile, ci appartengono però col diritto di na-tura». Muovendo da tale considerazione, il saggio in que-stione mira a indagare intorno al principio di «ospitalità» che l’illuminista camaldolese – entro la più ampia que-stione settecentesca civiltà/natura – intendeva caldeggiare ai fini di una concreta riforma etica e sociale del tempo. Il confronto “fraterno” con altre forme culturali consentiva inoltre di riflettere più profondamente sul sistema politico-civile della propria patria: è quanto egli stesso si impegnò a fare, raccogliendo e pubblicando alcune Lettere riguar-danti il suo soggiorno – tra il 1774 e il 1776 – in Danimarca. L’opera, Sullo stato delle scienze e belle arti in Danimarca dopo la metà del sec. XVIII, nell’offrire «la più giusta idea» delle istituzioni, dell’educazione e della letteratura dei paesi nordici, si apriva così a utili osservazioni critiche sull’assetto dei due regni di Napoli e Sicilia.
«I Forestieri ci appartengono col diritto di natura». Intorno ad alcune «meditazioni» di Isidoro Bianchi
Lavopa
2025-01-01
Abstract
In Meditations on Various Points of Public and Private Hap-piness, Isidoro Bianchi – who had long been active in Sicil-ian cultural circles – clearly asserted: «Foreigners [...] alt-hough they do not belong to us with the same rights as civil society, belong to us with the right of nature». Starting from this consideration, this essay aims to investigate the princi-ple of «hospitality» that Bianchi – within the broader eight-eenth-century question of civilization/nature – intended to advocate for the purposes of concrete ethical and social re-form of the time. The “fraternal” exchange with other cul-tural forms also allowed for a more profound reflection on the political and civil system of one’s homeland: this is what he himself committed to doing, collecting and publishing some Letters regarding his stay – between 1774 and 1776 – in Denmark. The work, On the State of Science and Fine Arts in Denmark After the Mid-Eighteenth Century, offered «the most accurate idea» of the institutions, education, and literature of the Nordic countries, opening itself to useful critical observations on the structure of the two kingdoms of Naples and Sicily.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
