Francesco Olgiati

thumb|Francesco Olgiati Francesco Olgiati (1886 -1962) was an Italian priest, Roman Catholic philosopher, and neo-Thomist theologian. La filosofia di Enrico Bergson Francesco Olgiati, La filosofia di Enrico Bergson, Fratelli Bocca Editori, Torino, 1914 Incipit In the lecture given at the International Congress of Philosophy in Bologna, on April 10, 1911, Enrico Bergson observed that a philosophical system seems at first to rise up as a complete building, of a wise architecture, where arrangements have been made, so that all problems can be accommodated there. But to the extent that we try to place ourselves more in the philosopher's thought, instead of circling him, we immediately notice that his doctrine is transfigured. The complication begins to diminish, then the parts enter each other, finally everything gathers together in a single point, to which we feel we could get closer and closer, even though it is impossible to reach it. At this point there is something simple, infinitely simple, so extraordinarily simple, that the philosopher has never been able to say. And that's why he spoke his whole life. Quotes If we could strip ourselves of our superb pride, if to define our species we cared closely about what history and prehistory present to us as the constant characteristic of man, we would not say "homo sapiens", but "homo faber". Originally we think only to act. Speculation is a luxury, while action is a necessity. And it is in the form of action that our intelligence has been fused; it is not the faculty of fabricating systems of metaphysics, but of preparing artificial instruments. (chap. III, pp. 47-48) In the "Evolution créatrice", when he addresses the problem of life, Bergson will try to show that life, from its origins onwards, is nothing but the continuation of one and the same momentum, which has then split into lines of divergent evolutions. The development of that single impulse so dissociated tendencies that they could not grow beyond a certain point, without becoming incompatible with each other; but which, however, despite the divergence of their effects, retain something common for the identity of their origin. Thus, for example, the initial momentum split into intelligence in man and instinct in animals, so that every concrete instinct is mixed with intelligence and every real intelligence is penetrated by instinct. (chap. IV, p. 63) Life, from its origins onwards, is the continuation of "one and the same momentum". At a certain moment, in certain points of space, a vital current was born, which in its creative evolution was then divided into divergent lines, dissociating the various tendencies, which slept in it like a fertile germ.Evolutionary movement would be a simple thing, if life described a unique trajectory, similar to that of a full bomb, launched by a cannon. But here we are dealing with a howitzer, which immediately exploded into fragments, which, being themselves species of howitzers, in turn exploded into fragments, destined to explode again and so on for a long and long time. We perceive nothing but what is closest to us, that is, the scattered movements of the pulverized splinters. Starting from these we must go back, from degree to degree, to the original movement, to find the "unique source" of all the kingdoms of nature, of all the countless species, of all the millions of individuals, who were, are and will be. (chap. X, pp. 145-146) Schemi di conferenze Francesco Olgiati, Schemi di conferenze, Società Editrice "Vita e Pensiero", Milano 1938 Incipit Mom Have you heard the recent surprise, which got the newspapers talking and struck a surgeon with such amazement? In a German hospital, a surgeon had to perform an operation. With chloroform he put the sick man to sleep, took his irons and began cutting. Oh, wonder! He soon realized that the patient had his heart on the right and his liver on the left. If that surgeon were to operate on certain Aspirants of my knowledge, he would make a more admirable discovery: he would find that they have the heart neither on the right nor on the left. They are heartless little children and little daughters. Just look at the way they treat their mom. Quotes How painful it is to think of the indifference with which many delicacies of the maternal heart have been accepted in the past!... The mother is too great a good and sometimes distance is necessary, to appreciate her full greatness... (p. 12) Poor Mothers who live hidden and consumed in the secret of your heart anxieties and pains understood by no one!... (p. 13) It is not only in the novels of Giulio Verne that one descends into the depths of the sea or ascends close to the stars; even in the reality of everyday life, astonishing wonders are fulfilled every day. (p. 29) It is useless to propose the correction of a defect, if at the time one cannot resist. (p. 72) The valor of a soldier is not judged in times of peace or quiet, but in the hour of the assault. (p. 72)ù External links Olgiati, Francesco Category:1886 births Category:1962 deaths Category:roman Catholic priests Category:Catholics from Italy Category:Philosophers from Italy Category:Theologians from Italy