Gaetano Filangieri

Clorinda Donato (California State University, Long Beach)
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The name of Gaetano Filangieri was known far and wide in late eighteenth-century Europe. It appeared in the travelogues, letters and literary meditations of those who sought to rekindle early enlightenment principles at the end of the eighteenth century through the inspiration of his magnum opus,

La Scienza della legislazione

(

The Science of Legislation

) (1780-91). Dubbed the Italian Montesquieu for his engagement with the

philosophe's

constitutional philosophy, Filangieri nonetheless critiqued

The Spirit of the Laws

(1748), moving his theories from the realm of intellectual reflection on the separation of powers and the rule of law to the arena of reform. The

Scienza della legislazione

(

Science of Legislation

) also found its roots in Cesare Beccaria's 1764

Dei delitte e delle pene

(

On

2060 words

Citation: Donato, Clorinda. "Gaetano Filangieri". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 March 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12036, accessed 25 April 2024.]

12036 Gaetano Filangieri 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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