ZANOTTI, FRANCESCO MARIA. - Philosopher and man of letters, b. at Bologna on 6 Jan. 1692, d. there on 25 Dec. 1777.
Professor of philosophy at his native University from 1718, he was among the first there to graft Cartesian and Newtonian doctrines onto the old Aristotelian stock. Secretary from 1723 of the Institute of Sciences, of which he later became president (1766), he wrote its proceedings in elegant Latin. He worked and wrote, although always in frail health, until advanced age. A keen and subtle intellect, he embodied the type of the eighteenth-century philosopher, understanding philosophy
as an encyclopedia or sum of knowledge. In language and style he was a thoroughly Italian writer, at once polished and lucid, though at times not free from prolixity. His pupil Palcani collected his Opere (9 vols., Bologna 1779–1802). Among these the following are still cited: Della forza attrattiva delle idee (1747), an application of Newtonian attraction to ideas; three dialogues, Della forza dei corpi che chiamano viva (1752); the Filosofia morale (1754), which is the finest compendium of Aristotelian ethics; Dell'arte poetica (1768), a treatise that does not go beyond the bounds of Aristotelian poetics: the latter two works were reprinted several times, even in the nineteenth century.