Gaetanus Matthew Perez
Encyclopedia
Gaetanus Matthew Perez (18th century) was a minor Maltese philosopher. His area of specialisation in philosophy was chiefly ethics
. No portrait of Perez is known to exist so far.
, Malta
, is made up of only twelve pages. Nevertheless, the content of the study is quite unusual for Perez’ time.
The booklet contains a long epistle addressed to Abbot Joseph Raiberti of Nissa, the Conventual Chaplain of the Knights Hospitallers. It deals with the value and need of friendship. The writing itself is one long piece of prose without any divisions whatsoever.
First Perez discusses friendship on the level of individuals. This relationship is then explored as a model and foundation of political and social life. Perez makes it quite clear that, to his mind, personal friendship is the essential condition from which peace, justice, and a nation’s progress begin, and on which they are based.
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
. No portrait of Perez is known to exist so far.
Work
Just one work, and an very interesting one at that, survives from Perez’ hand. It is a publication in Italian which bears the title: Dissertazione Filosofico-Morale sullo Stato Amichevole (A Philosophical-Moral Study on Friendship). The work, published in 1776 at the printing press of the Knights Hospitallers in VallettaValletta
Valletta is the capital of Malta, colloquially known as Il-Belt in Maltese. It is located in the central-eastern portion of the island of Malta, and the historical city has a population of 6,098. The name "Valletta" is traditionally reserved for the historic walled citadel that serves as Malta's...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
, is made up of only twelve pages. Nevertheless, the content of the study is quite unusual for Perez’ time.
The booklet contains a long epistle addressed to Abbot Joseph Raiberti of Nissa, the Conventual Chaplain of the Knights Hospitallers. It deals with the value and need of friendship. The writing itself is one long piece of prose without any divisions whatsoever.
First Perez discusses friendship on the level of individuals. This relationship is then explored as a model and foundation of political and social life. Perez makes it quite clear that, to his mind, personal friendship is the essential condition from which peace, justice, and a nation’s progress begin, and on which they are based.
Sources
- Mark Montebello, Il-Ktieb tal-Filosofija f’Malta (A Source Book of Philosophy in Malta), PIN Publications, Malta, 2001.