This website is the online home of the Gaetano Filangieri Philosophical Society of America, dedicated to the study and dissemination of the work and legacy of Gaetano Filangieri (1753–1788), one of the leading figures of the Neapolitan Enlightenment. A jurist and philosopher, Filangieri was the author of La Scienza della Legislazione — a seminal treatise on legal reform that circulated widely in the Atlantic world and was read by several of the American Founders.
The work of
Gaetano Filangieri
Filangieri and
the American Founders
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Benjamin Franklin praised Filangieri’s “excellent” and “invaluable” work on legislation and requested multiple copies to share with fellow American intellectuals. In a spirit of appreciation, he sent Filangieri a copy of the U.S. Constitution in 1787.
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Thomas Jefferson welcomed an Italian publisher’s proposal to dedicate an edition of Filangieri’s work to him, writing that “it will always be flattering to see my name coupled with those of the lovers of the liberty and happiness of man.”
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
