Liberatore, Matteo

LIBERATORE, MATTEO. - Philosopher and theologian

His principal merit lies in the strong contribution he made to the renewal of Neo-Scholastic philosophy, particularly Thomistic, which had been almost forgotten and devalued at the beginning of the 19th century, even in ecclesiastical schools. The L., under the guidance of Taparelli and Sordi, penetrated and assimilated with rare depth its perennial content of truth, expounded it from the chair and above all in many works, widely circulated in numerous editions, among which the principal ones: Institutiones philosophicae (2 vols., Naples 1840-42); Della conoscenza intellettuale (2 vols., Rome 1857-58); Del composto umano (ibid. 1862); Istituzioni di etica e diritto naturale (ibid. 1863); Dell'anima umana (ibid. 1875); Degli universali (6 opuscoli, ibid. 1883); Del diritto pubblico ecclesiastico (Prato 1887); Principi di economia politica (Rome 1889). In the light of the principles of Scholasticism the L. was able to sift the new philosophical systems (rationalism, ontologism, etc.), and to refute their errors. Fineness of judgment and particular force and dialectical balance characterize both the systematic treatises and many particular studies on the most vital and fundamental theological, philosophical and natural-law problems with which the L. nobly defended the cause of the Church and of Christian thought.