Luís António Verney

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Luís António Verney

Luís António Verney , also Vernei, (born July 23, 1713 in Lisbon , Portugal , † March 20, 1792 in Rome , Italy ) was a Portuguese pioneer of the Enlightenment , theologian, priest, philosopher, writer and thinker. He is considered the only and therefore most important reconnaissance figure in Portugal.

Life

Verney was born the son of a Frenchman from Lyon and a Portuguese woman. He began his philosophical studies at the Congregaçao do Oratorio ( Congregation of Oratorios ) in Lisbon and at the Colegio de Santo Antão, a Jesuit college . He continued his studies in Évora , first at the Colegio Madre de Deus, where he studied art , to later take up a degree in theology and philosophy at the University of Évora there. His theology studies finally led him to Rome, where he studied the last semesters and graduated as a theologian in 1732. In 1733 he had also completed his Magister Artium at the University of Évora . In 1736 he received his doctorate in theology. He returned to Portugal and in 1741 became archdeacon of the cathedral of Évora and thus had a very high position within the diocese ; he had thus become, as it were, deputy bishop. In 1749 he went to Italy again and lived there until his death. Due to a falling out with the Holy See and the King of Portugal, he moved to Pisa . In Pisa he published an article in French and Latin in a magazine called " Journal des Servants " under the pseudonym Antonio Teixeira Gomboa , which dealt with his main work, the " Verdadeiro metodo de estudar " and was entitled: " Synopsis Primi Teutamiunis por Litteratura Scientisque istaurandis apud Lusitanos ". For a short time he was also secretary to the Portuguese ambassador to Italy. The climax of his scientific career was crowned by membership in the Academy of Sciences in Rome, as one of the few foreigners of his time.

His most important work was the educational-philosophical-enlightenment text " Verdadeiro metodo de estudar ", published in 1746. He was in correspondence with the Italian enlightener Lodovico Antonio Muratori (1672–1750). The Portuguese King John V he proposed a reform of the education system and the education front. The king was initially taken with it, but a reform was thwarted by intrigue. Verney even came into the focus of the Inquisition because of his most famous book , because a cleric was not allowed to be a follower of the Enlightenment . On a theoretical level, he remained the only real Enlightenment in the Age of Enlightenment in his country, he was the first to start a kind of literary wake-up call in the direction of Enlightenment. In his literature he also advocated women, mixed race and the blacks from the colonies. B. worked as domestic servants in Portugal as well as for the blacks in the colonies. Since he had never returned from Italy, he died on March 20, 1792 in Rome.

A school in Lisbon and a foundation of the same name are named after him. He is one of the few clergymen of the Enlightenment who, despite their work and the difficulties with it, never gave up their ties to the church.

The Enlightener Verney and his work

Luís António Verney's work had a major impact on the political reforms and decisions of the political enlightener Sebastião José de Carvalho e Mello, Marquês de Pombal . The work was influenced by Antonio Genovesi , John Locke , Isaac Newton , Galileo Galilei , Francis Bacon , René Descartes . He dealt critically with traditional Portuguese culture and questioned the work of Luís de Camões , especially his sonnets and the work of Padre António Vieira for the people whose work he saw as not guided by reason. He advocated reforms in the field of philology , especially the spelling and grammar of Portuguese, wanted geography, history and new languages ​​to be taught in schools and universities and advocated that instead of the ubiquitous Latin, the mother tongue Portuguese became a compulsory language in class. Overall, he advocated a renewal of Portugal in all areas of culture, mainly in the field of education. He also thought about Europe and intended to encourage intervention by all enlightened spirits in Europe, which he was unable to implement. He had also published books on the subject of metaphysics , fundamental theology and logic and gave the natural sciences, which at that time hardly existed in Portugal, their first public awareness.

Verdadeiro metodo de estudar

The most important work of Verney, at the same time the most important of the Portuguese Enlightenment, was the book " Verdadeiro metodo de estudar, para ser util a republica ea igreja: Proporcionado ao estilo e necessidade de Portugal (True way of studying for the benefit of state and church, appropriate to the Characteristics and the needs of Portugal, presented in various letters ) The book, written in 16 letters, culturally critical and educational, to a fictional professor at the University of Coimbra , first appeared in two volumes in Naples in 1746 and was immediately confiscated by the Inquisition and placed under censorship. 1751 then succeeded in republishing in Lisbon, albeit with bogus information. The book sparked one of the most lively discussions and discourses in the history of Portuguese literature, humanities and cultural studies and philosophy. Several dozen authors wrote counter-works on the author and the book, it was the most talked about book throughout Portugal and its colonies of that time. In terms of content, the book deals with the subjects of philosophy, medicine, secular law, theology, canon law, pedagogy, natural law , international law and had an almost encyclopedic dimension. Between 1757 and 1760 it also had a great impact on the delicate Enlightenment in Spain, where it was translated by enthusiastic Enlightenmentists. The book lacks originality, but it was unique for Portugal. In medicine, he did not advocate theory, but the view in practice that this is the only way for doctors to learn and help people. He understood philosophy as an idea that should reach the natural sciences through observation and experiment.

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  • Verdadeiro Metodo de Estudar, 1746 (first version confiscated by the Inquisition), second version 1751 in Lisbon (not confiscated). Scientific treatise on philosophy and pedagogy.
  • De re logica ad usum lusitanorum adolescentium libri sex, 1751. Scientific treatise on logic.
  • De re metaphysica ad usum lusitanorum adolescentium libri qua tuar, 1753. Scientific treatise on metaphysics.
  • De re physica ad unum lusitanorum adolescentium, 1758. Scientific treatise on physics.
  • Grammatica latina tratada por um methodo novo, claro e facil, 1758. Textbook of grammar.

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personal data
SURNAME Verney, Luís António
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vernei, Luis Antonio
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese enlightener, theologian, priest, philosopher, writer and thinker
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1713
PLACE OF BIRTH Lisbon
DATE OF DEATH March 20, 1792
Place of death Rome