BENEDETTO D'ACQUISTO. — Philosopher, b. at Monreale in 1790, d. there on 7 Aug. 1867. Francesco, he passed through all the ranks in his Order up to the provincialate. He taught philosophy in the colleges of S. Rocco and Arlivescovile and finally moral philosophy at the university. In 1858 he was named archbishop of Monreale.
In philosophy he generally follows the eclectic trend, developing the principles of the Monreale school, to which he is ideally akin, with frequent Cartesian resonances from the Franciscan school. He cannot be called an ontologist, although his positions recall those of Mìceli and Gioberti. From 1841 he turned his attention to moral problems, drawing inspiration here also from Gioberti and V. Mìceli. Principal works: Trattato delle idee o Ideologia (Palermo 1857); Corso di diritto naturale e filosofia del diritto (ibid. 1852).