Angelo Pirotta, O.P. (27 December 1894 – 16 November 1956) was a Maltese philosopher, Dominican priest and educator. In philosophy, his areas of specialization were epistemology and metaphysics.Mark Montebello, Il-Ktieb tal-Filosofija f’Malta (A Source Book of Philosophy in Malta), PIN Publications, Malta, 2001, Vol. II, pp. 50-51.
Life
Early life Pirotta was born in Naxxar, Malta.All biographical information is reproduced from Mark Montebello's Angelo Pirotta: A Maltese philosopher of the first water, Maltese Dominican Province, Malta, 2006, with full permission of the copyright holders. His parents were John Mary Pirotta (1867–1946) and Antonia Née Camilleri (1875–1929). He was the oldest of thirteen children, three of whom died in infancy.
Pirotta was first privately schooled by Canon Fortunato De Bono. He then attended the Lyceum, a government-owned high school for boys in Valletta until the age of 16. Following that, he joined the Dominican Order on 30 April 1911.
Initial Formation In Rabat, Malta, Pirotta began his novitiate, and then, a year later, made his three-year profession on 12 May 1912. Thereafter, he began his institutional studies: three years of philosophy (1912–15), and four of theology (1915–19), all according to the Thomist tradition.
After completing his second year of theology (1916/17), Pirotta was chosen to continue his theological studies at Pontifical International Angelicum College in Rome, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum. In the meantime, he was ordained as a priest on 22 September 1917 at the St. John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta.
In Rome, Pirotta resided at the Angelicum College. After his two years of theology (1917–19), he successfully sat for his Lectorate exams on 1 July 1919 with a dissertation titled De Reali Distinctione inter Essentiam et Esse in Creatis (The Real Distinction between Essence and Existence in Created Being). Thereafter, he proceeded with his post-graduate studies in philosophy (1919–21). Meanwhile, he also prepared his doctorate thesis, entitled De Supposto et Persona, which he successfully defended on 1 July 1921.
The Italy years
In Viterbo Pirotta's first academic assignment was at Viterbo, where he spent five academic years (1921–26) teaching the history of philosophy, natural science (also called ‘physics’), and theodicy (theologia fundamentalis; now called natural theology). He was invited on different occasions to address the Circulus Philosophicus (Philosophical Discussion Group) and was also asked to contribute to Thomistic periodicals, read sermons, and give speeches. At Viterbo, Pirotta also prepared his first major publication: an exposition of Aquinas’ commentary on Aristotle's De Anima (On the Soul).
In Rome After Viterbo, Pirotta returned to Rome to assume a teaching post at the Angelicum College where he remained for two years (1926-28), teaching philosophy, theodicy, logic, and ontology. In terms of literary production, Pirotta's Roman years may be considered as his most prolific and industrious period, during which he wrote reviews, scientific articles, and prepared and published his second major work: another exposition on Aquinas’ commentaries on Aristotle's De Sensu et Sensato (On Sense and Sensibility) and De Memoria et Reminiscientia (On Memory and Remembrance).
Interlude in Malta In 1928, Pirotta returned temporarily to his homeland when one of his brothers became seriously ill, and his mother was ill and died on 5 July 1929. While in Malta, Pirotta spent two academic years (1928–1930), residing and lecturing at Rabat, Malta. Pirotta taught philosophy, the history of philosophy, and apologetics. He also continued to publish scientific reviews and articles.
In Fiesole Back in Italy, Pirotta was sent to the college of Fiesole, near Florence, Italy. The private college prepared Dominican students for the priesthood. Pirotta stayed there for one academic year (1930–1931), where he taught the history of philosophy and the treatise on divine revelation.
Here he also worked upon the first of his six-volume Summa Philosophiæ (The Sum of Philosophy), which he published in 1931. He also prepared for the completion of his master's degree. The final exam was successfully held on 7 May 1931, in Rome at the Angelicum College, which by that time had been upgraded to the status of an international university. As it was the usual practice, the title was conferred four years later: the official investiture was held at the Dominican Priory at Rabat, Malta on 24 November 1935.
In Naples After Tuscany, Pirotta went to Naples. He joined the faculty at the Aquinas College of the Dominicans as a Rector (‘Lectorem Primarium’). He stayed there for three consecutive academic years (1931–1934). In Naples, Pirotta may have been at the peak of his academic career as there he published the first of his planned six-volume Summa Philosophæ: a study about Aristotelico-Thomistic logic, called the Philosophia Rationalis (Rational Philosophy). Later, he proceeded to publish his third exposition: this time of Aquinas’ commentary on Aristotle's Ethicorum ad Nichomachum (Nicomachean Ethics).
In Malta In 1934, Pirotta was recalled to Rabat. During the first academic year (1934–1935), he was a lecturer of philosophy. In 1935 he was chosen to be the Rector of the college and retained this office for nine years (1935–1944), which included the World War II years in Malta.
At the beginning of the 1935–1936 academic year, Pirotta was officially conferred his master's degree. A few months later, he issued his second volume of the Summa Philosophiæ, the one dealing with natural philosophy, called Philosophia Naturalis.
In 1938, Pirotta applied for the Deanship of philosophy at the Royal University of Malta, but he was unsuccessful. From 1939 until his death in 1956, he lived most of his time in Naxxar, Malta, and stayed at his convent in Rabat, Malta as little as possible.
In Rabat, continuing as Rector, from 1939 onwards, he acted as supplementary examiner at the Royal University of Malta, and further continued to deliver sermons here and there, and even to hear confessions on a regular basis.
Retirement and death Before the war was over, at the end of the academic year of 1943–1944, Pirotta was relieved of the post of Rector at Rabat, Malta. During these years, he worked on his next publication, which turned out to be his last. This was his fourth exposition, on Aquinas’ eight books of commentaries on Aristotle's De Physico Auditu (Physics), which was published in 1953.
In 1955, Pirotta became victim of acute cerebral vascular insufficiency due to diabetes and chronic smoking. As a result, his memory had become seriously impaired, and so was his reasoning powers. He died at his parents’ home at Naxxar on 16 November 1956, a month short of his 62nd birthday. He was buried in the Dominican church of Our Lady of the Grotto at Rabat.
Works
Opus magnum The (The Sum of Aritotelico-Thomistic Philosophy) – Pirotta planned to publish six volumes to complete this work. He succeeded in publishing only the first two. The other four volumes remained manuscripts in different phases of preparation. VOL. I – (Rational Philosophy; 1931) – Published in Latin, containing 267 pages (and twelve preliminary pages), the book was published by Marietti of Turin, Italy. It is the first volume of Pirotta's incomplete project. It opens with a preface and a general introduction to philosophy; and closes with a chart that shows the classification of the philosophical sciences according to the Aristotelico-Thomistic school of thought. VOL. II – (Natural Philosophy; 1936) – The second volume of the incomplete Summa project took five years to finalize. This book, also in Latin as most of Pirotta's writings, contains 820 pages, excluding the eight preliminary pages. Like the first volume, it was published with Marietti of Turin, Italy. VOL. III – (General Demonstrative Metaphysics or Ontology; c.1935-40)ADR, MSS. A164##1 u 2. – This volume in the series presented Pirotta's work on metaphysics. It was never published, though its manuscript shows that it was in an advanced state of composition. VOL. IV – (Specific Demonstrative Metaphysics: the Metaphysics of Created Being; c.1935-40)ADR, MSS. A165##1 and 2. – This writing, intended to be the fourth volume in a series of six forming the , was never completed. The manuscript is made up of 580 large folios. VOL. V – (Specific Demonstrative Metaphysics: the Metaphysics of Uncreated Being otherwise Natural Theology or Theodicy; c.1935-40)ADR, MS. A166.– out of the four incomplete manuscripts of Pirotta's Summa Philosophiæ Aristotelico-Thomisticæ, this is the most complete. It is a matter of speculation whether Pirotta actually intended to publish this fifth volume before the third and fourth. The manuscript is made up of 569 folios. VOL. VI – (Explicative Metaphysics or Criteriology; c.1935-40)ADR, MS. A167#1, #2 u #3. – The entirety of the extant manuscript comprises 1260 large folios, however this is the most incomplete of Pirotta's series of manuscripts related to his . Some segments of it are finalized.
Commentaries
Apart from Pirotta's two published volumes that were part of his Summa Philosophiæ Aristotelico-Thomisticæ, published in 1931 and 1936 respectively, these commentaries are considered by some to be his best works.
([Aquinas’] Commentary on [Aristotle's] ‘On the Soul’; 1925) – Written in Latin, its 307 pages (excluding the thirteen preliminary pages), was published with Marietti of Turin, Italy. Its full title is: (The Commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor of the Order of Preachers, on Aristotle's Book On the Soul). The volume is dedicated to Mons. Angelo Portelli O.P., Malta's then Auxiliary Bishop. The Dominican archive at Rabat, Malta, possesses the galley proofs for a new edition of the work,ADR, MS. A168. which was never published. Essentially, Pirotta's work is a commentary on Aquinas’ exposition of Aristotle's On the Soul. ([Aquinas’ Commentary on Aristotle's] ‘On Sense and Sensibility’ [and] ‘On Memory and Remembrance’; 1928) – A book in Latin published with Marietti of Turin, Italy, that comprises nine preliminary, and a further 158 pages. Its full title is: (The Commentary of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor of the Order of Preachers, on Aristotle's Books On Sense and Sensibility [and] On Memory and Remembrance). The book is dedicated to Fortunato De Bono, a Maltese early teacher of Pirotta. The writing is an interpretation of Aquinas’ exposition of Aristotle's two works. ([Aquinas’ Exposition of] Aristotle's ‘Nicomachean Ethics’; 1934) – This publication follows on Pirotta's two commentaries on Aquinas's exposition of Aristotle's On the Soul, and On Sense and On Memory. In the intervening years, Pirotta had also published his first volume of his Sum of Philosophy. This volume of 696 pages, excluding the twenty-four preliminary pages, was also published with Marietti of Turin, Italy. Its full title is: (The Exposition of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Doctor of the Order of Preachers, on the Ten Books of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics). ([Aquinas’] Eight Books on [Aristotle's] ‘Physics’ or [Aquinas’] Commentary of Aristotle's ‘Physics’; 1953) – This is the last of Pirotta's major contributions to scholastic philosophy, published barely three years before his death. The study, in Latin, is made up of 658 pages, and was published by M. D’Auria Pontificius Editor of Naples, Italy. The book is divided into eight books, and then into lectures ().
Articles
Unlike the commentaries, these articles take up some point or aspect of a particular theme on which Pirotta expands upon. After publication, most of these articles have been distributed as separate extracts.
‘L’Arma taghna’ (Our weapon; 1918; signed only as Fr. A.P. o.p.)Ir-Rusariu Imkaddes, Yr.7, 1-5.