GALIANI, Ferdinando. – Writer and economist, born in Chieti on 3 Dec. 1728, died in Naples on 30 Oct. 1787. Secretary of the Neapolitan Embassy in Paris from 1759 to 1769.
Among his most notable works are *Della moneta* (Naples 1750), *Dialogues sur le commerce des blés* (London 1770), *De' doveri de' principi neutrali verso i principi guerriggianti e di questi verso i neutrali* (n.p. 1782); also noteworthy is the witty *Scorale immaginario* (Naples 1775), written in collaboration with Giambattista Lorenzii (the idea, plot, and some scenes are certainly his), and set to music by Paisiello.
A refined spirit and captivating man of the world, G. was not a profound thinker, but possessed a keen intellect ever eager to expose contradictions in the world, even demolishing the very myths of the eighteenth century. He opposed every form of irrationality yet also rejected rationalistic optimism. He maintained that freedom and necessity do not stifle one another, and in outlining the duties of neutral princes, he argued that force is not a right, that raison d’état conflicts with the culture of reason, and that in politics the principles of pure morality and justice must be upheld. At the same time, he confined politics to the possibility of achieving the greatest good for humanity with the least effort, declaring that nations are perfected when born of the union of passion and reason, order and disorder.
Opposed to the physiocrats’ *paligeneri*, he observed with acute realism that in the grain trade, freedom and protection must be advocated according to the needs of different countries. In G., problems often coexist and merge without being resolved into a clear system. A close friend of Diderot, G. was irreligious, a sensist, but not a determinist.