FILOMUSI GUELFI, Francesco. - Italian legal philosopher, b. in Tocco Casauria (Abruzzo) on 21 Nov. 1842, d. there on 22 Oct. 1922. Professor of philosophy of law and civil law at the University of Rome.
He studied law and philosophy in Naples, where his teacher in philosophy was Bertrando Spaventa. In 1873 he was appointed, by competitive examination, professor of philosophy of law at the University of Rome. In 1884 he moved to the chair of civil law, though in subsequent years he continued to give courses also in the other discipline. In 1910 he was appointed senator of the Kingdom.
In his conception of law, as a universal and absolute idea that is realized in concrete and historical form, he was inspired by the principles of Vico and Hegel, though remaining distant, with respect to the latter, from the dogmatism of other Hegelians, drawing closer in some points to Kantian thought. With regard to the State, he upheld the concept of the “rule of law” in a broader sense than that of Kant, as had been affirmed especially by Silvio Spaventa (brother of Bertrando), to whom F. was a devoted friend.
Many of the leading jurists (such as V. Scialoja, G. Veneziani, G. Chiovenda, P. Bonfante) and not a few legal philosophers emerged from his school.
The principal work of F. G. is the Enciclopedia giuridica (Naples 1873; 7th ed., ibid. 1917). Among his writings relating to the philosophy of law, the following deserve special mention: La dottrina dello Stato nell'antichità greca nei suoi rapporti con l'Etica (ibid. 1873); Del concetto del diritto naturale e del diritto positivo nella storia della Filosofia del diritto (ibid. 1874); Il matrimonio religioso ed il diritto (Rome 1874); Delle condizioni che escludono o diminuiscono l'imputabilità (ibid. 1875); Del concetto della Enciclopedia del diritto (Naples 1876); La codificazione civile e le idee moderne che ad essa si riferiscono (Rome 1887). His lectures on the philosophy of law, initially issued only in lithographed form for student use, were first printed, together with some minor writings, in the volume: Lezioni e leggi di filosofia del diritto (Milan 1949). As regards civil law, apart from various contributions published in journals, numerous lecture courses appeared in lithographed form (Delle successioni; Diritti reali; Delle obbligazioni; Introduzione alle scienze giuridiche ed istituzioni di diritto civile; Della trascrizione, etc.).