Francesco Maria Zanotti

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 1741 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society.

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 1775, Benjamin Wilson began a correspondence with Zanotti on phosphor.

Family His brother, Giampietro Cavazzoni Zanotti was a writer, painter, and art historian; Eustachio Zanotti was a famous astronomer and hydraulic engineer. His nephew was the philosopher and writer Manuel Lassala.

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