52

Antonio Genovesi made a fundamental contribution to the cultural renewal of the Kingdom of Naples. From theology, to metaphysics, to the political economy, he embraced the challenge presented by the new philosophical perspectives of the Enlightenment. While he didn’t provide systematic solutions and responses, his civil philosophy reorganized a considerable part of eighteenth century culture in an original synthesis that remained an essential instrument of interpretation for the successive generations of Neapolitan intellectuals who had to deal with the political crisis of the end of the century.