FRANCESCO ACRI. — Philosopher, born at Catanzaro on 19 March 1834, died at Bologna on 21 November 1913. He is commonly recognised as the most prominent representative in Italy of Christian spiritualism in the second half of the 19th century, although opinions on his thought are not unanimous. He was initiated into philosophy through reading Gioberti, from whom he derived that inclination towards Platonism which would become his hallmark, while a stay in Germany, during which he heard Trendelenburg, facilitated his acquaintance with the most recent currents of thought. Ordinary professor of philosophy at the University of Bologna from 1871, he, little concerned with constructing a personal system, was a vigorous advocate of a worldview that might be termed Christian idealism, an original blend of Platonism and Augustinianism, equally distant from and opposed to the scientific determinism and metaphysical agnosticism then prevalent. And the defence of the values of the spirit (which sometimes resonated widely in cultural circles, as in the controversies with Imbriani, Spaventa, Fiorentino; cf. F. Fiorentino, *La filosofia contemporanea in Italia*, Naples 1876) was in Acri, beyond and more than the justification of a philosophical stance, the coherence with his Catholic faith which always informed his life.
Acri’s scholarly output, when compared to his long life, is not extensive and is rather fragmentary. He himself collected the best of his publications in four anthological volumes: 1) *Videmus in aenigmate*, Bologna 1907; 2) *Amore, dolore, fede*, ibid. 1908; 3) *Dialettica turbata*, ibid. 1911; 4) *Dialettica serena*, Rocca San Casciano 1917 (published posthumously by his son Umberto). The first of these volumes, which may be considered Acri’s most ingenious and profound work, chiefly develops his doctrine of ideas, already expounded earlier in *Abbasso d’una teoria delle idee*, Palermo 1870. His conception postulates in perception a certain intuition of God (a Giobertian and Rosminian reminiscence adapted thereto) as the condition whereby the mind can transform perception into an idea and grasp the thing perceived. On the other hand, he maintains the impossibility of an adequate cognition of any thing whatsoever, given the infinite relations of every idea. “The whole is in the whole and minds do not see the whole” seems the formula summarising Acri’s thought. He cannot, however, be accused of scepticism, since he believes that mystical intuition yields what he deems unattainable by reason alone (cf. E. Chiocchetti, *Il sistema filosofico dell’A.*, in *Riv. Filosofia Neosc.*, 5 [1913], pp. 566-81).
Acri’s major work, however, is his translation of Plato, the finest available in Italy. In an exceptionally refined style, which at times appears overly precious, he conveys and revives Plato so as to mirror him in his own manner. The first edition of the 12 dialogues translated by Acri appeared in 3 volumes in Milan in 1914; a better edition was prepared in Milan in 1921 by the Libreria Editrice Popolare Italiana. Notable in it are two original essays, which may be regarded as prefaces to the dialogues themselves: 1) *Si considera secondo filosofia se si possa volgarizzare su scrittore, qualunque egli sia e specialmente Platone*; 2) *Ragionamenti contro ai veristi filosofici, politici e poeti*.