Francesco Maria Zanotti Cavazzoni (Bologna, 6 January 1692 – Bologna, 25 December 1777) was an Italian philosopher and writer. Besides being a writer, he was also a commentator on works of art. He was considered an authoritative source on many topics.
Life He was 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. In 1728 Francesco Algarotti experimented with light in his lab, replicating the prism and spectrum experiments of Isaac Newton."THE INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE OF BOLOGNA AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY" by Maria Cavazza. Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 56 (1), p. 10 (2002) Museo Palazzo Poggi In 1741 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society."THE INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE OF BOLOGNA AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY" by Maria Cavazza. Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 56 (1), p. 16 (2002)
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.
In 1766 he became president of Institute of Science in Bologna.His portrait can be seen here In 1775, Benjamin Wilson began a correspondence with Zanotti on phosphor."THE INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE OF BOLOGNA AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY" by Maria Cavazza. Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 56 (1), p.16 (2002)
Family His brother, Giampietro Cavazzoni Zanotti was a writer, painter, and art historian; Eustachio Zanotti was a famous astronomer and hydraulic engineer."THE INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE OF BOLOGNA AND THE ROYAL SOCIETY IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY" by Maria Cavazza. Notes Rec. R. Soc. Lond. 56 (1), p. 11, 14 (2002) His nephew was the philosopher and writer Manuel Lassala. Google Books website, Ad clarissimum virum Eustachium Zanottum Bononiensis Scientiarum Instituti praesidem perpetuum carmina quibus celeberrimi ejusdem patrui Francisci Mariae Zanotti luctuosissimam mortem deflebat Emmanuel Lassala Romanae Arcadiae pastor
Works
La forza attrattiva delle idee (1747) La filosofia morale secondo i peripatetici (1754) Dell'arte poetica (1758) Lettere famigliari in difesa della Felsina Pittrice Delle lodi delle belle arti Dialogo in difesa di G. Reni
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