FEDERICO CESI, THE FIRST ACADEMY, AND UMBRIA 37the anxiety for gain (‘money’ and ‘material things’), for honors and power,that <strong>di</strong>stracts man from the pursuit <strong>of</strong> knowledge and learning. 42 Fromhere a critique, efficacious and current, <strong>of</strong> the attitude, almost commonand certainly deeply rooted, that considers knowledge exclusively as afunction <strong>of</strong> the success and economic utility which can come from it, and<strong>di</strong>sdains those sciences, such as mathematics and philosophy, which relyon research that is truly <strong>di</strong>sinterested, and which ‘truly are the aim <strong>of</strong> theinnate desire’ for wisdom present in man. 43There is nothing moralistic about Cesi’s analysis. It rests above all onthe realistic observation that human attitudes are <strong>of</strong>ten influenced by theenvironment, by the desire for honors and gain for which the renunciationby the scholar, ad<strong>di</strong>cted to ‘speculation’, ‘to business’ comes to beseen as ineptitude, his activity <strong>of</strong> ‘contemplation’ interpreted as a spinelessrenunciation <strong>of</strong> the virile affairs <strong>of</strong> the world. Thus the defense <strong>of</strong> theLyncean ideal <strong>of</strong> a life de<strong>di</strong>cated to <strong>di</strong>sinterested scholarship takes on, inCesi’s speech, the tones <strong>of</strong> a melancholy reflection on the meaning <strong>of</strong> existenceand on the necessity <strong>of</strong> not losing oneself in the externals that it can<strong>of</strong>fer us, in the or<strong>di</strong>nary tasks and dealings, in the ‘many kinds <strong>of</strong> business’,in the ‘comfortable and pleasurable course <strong>of</strong> life’. 44 Scholarshipdemands a total commitment, <strong>of</strong> ‘labor’, time, and assiduity which ‘wantthe whole man’. 45 The time that scholarship requires is ‘long and continuous’,for which, in life, ‘one must begin early and never stop’, and aboveall one must leave behind all those influences, those ‘tasks and affairs, andfamily occupations’ which impede its regular conduct. 46Imme<strong>di</strong>ately after this, Cesi in<strong>di</strong>cates, in brief passages, what shouldbe the ideal methodological con<strong>di</strong>tions for authentic scholarship.First <strong>of</strong> all, one must have a solid knowledge <strong>of</strong> the subject through theperusal <strong>of</strong> books ‘where all subjects are more fully <strong>di</strong>scovered and whichcommunicate to us the contemplation and labor <strong>of</strong> others’; but equally necessaryis the concourse <strong>of</strong> maestros ‘that teach us with their live voices’. Insum, in order to advance and to be ‘<strong>of</strong> benefit to others’, scholarship willhave to be essentially inter<strong>di</strong>sciplinary and communal. 4742 F. Cesi, On the Natural Desire for Knowledge and The Institution <strong>of</strong> the Lynceans forIts Fulfillment, below, pp. 99-103.43 Below, p. 103.44 Below, pp. 105.45 Below, p. 107.46 Below, p. 109.47 Below, pp. 107-109.
38FEDERICO CESI, LA PRIMA ACCADEMIA, L’UMBRIAAlle con<strong>di</strong>zioni precedenti viene aggiunta quella che qualifica la modernitàdelle vedute <strong>di</strong> Cesi: “Né questo basta, poiché per far qualche cosa danoi, è necessario ben leggere questo grande, veri<strong>di</strong>co et universal libro delmondo”; e per fare questo“è necessario visitar le parti <strong>di</strong> esso et essercitarsi nello osservareet esperimentare per fondar in questi due buoni mezzi un’acuta epr<strong>of</strong>onda contemplatione, rappresentandoci il primo le cose comesono e da sé si variano, l’altro come possiamo noi stessi alterarle evariarle”. 48Cre<strong>di</strong>amo <strong>di</strong> non esagerare il valore dell’espressione affermando che qui èin<strong>di</strong>cato il senso più pr<strong>of</strong>ondo della scienza moderna, della scienza galileianache si realizza nella stretta connessione <strong>di</strong> elaborazione teorico-concettualee verifica sperimentale.Quanto più vi è la coscienza della necessità della ricerca <strong>di</strong> una “esquisitaregola” e un “buon or<strong>di</strong>ne nell’imparar”, tanto più vi è l’ins<strong>of</strong>ferenza versoun insegnamento che continuamente cambia “per il caso et abusi e <strong>di</strong>versipensieri o capricci de’ maestri e consuetu<strong>di</strong>ne de’ luoghi”. 49 Così, Cesi stigmatizzacon accenti duri la ricerca priva <strong>di</strong> un metodo, lasciata completamentein balia alle invenzioni soggettive, dove ciascuno può andare per unastrada o per un’altra, dove si corre o ci si precipita, piuttosto che “farsi regolarmenteavanti”; dove, piuttosto che seguire “l’or<strong>di</strong>nario camino delli autenticiscritti del precettore”, si preferiscono un lavoro e una ricerca <strong>di</strong>sor<strong>di</strong>nati,“l’intoppi de strepiti, cicalamenti, buffonerie, li scogli <strong>di</strong> male e vitiosecompagnie”; egli si duole della rarità del lavoro <strong>di</strong> ricerca in comune, realizzatocon “l’aiuto delli buoni consigli et esortationi, delle conferenze et amichevolicimenti de pensieri e ragioni”, mentre denuncia l’imperversare <strong>di</strong><strong>di</strong>spute in cui “si riduce tutto alli musici, festaroli e stampatori”, ad “altercationi”nelle quali “si perde la verità invece <strong>di</strong> ritrovarsi”, si fa“solo prova d’una pronta faccia e <strong>di</strong>cacità e, con far una bella mostrae spesa <strong>di</strong> migliaia <strong>di</strong> conclusioni, si ritorna poi al fine senz’haverconcluso cosa alcuna”. 50Decisa è la polemica nei confronti <strong>di</strong> una cultura che si esaurisce nellaripetizione passiva degli schemi del passato, piegata “all’autorità” <strong>di</strong> “questoe quello dell’antichi”, <strong>di</strong> “questa e quella setta”, volta a godere delle “cose48 Infra, p. 108.49 Infra, p. 112.50 Infra, p. 112.
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