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Reading Il Caffè: scientific method and economic knowledge in the “School of Milan” 297

he could explain with the two sole principles of matter and movement
all the phenomena of the universe was termed a philosopher». A
situation unsatisfactory for Verri, believing as he did that his times
had «notably, much […] improved the condition of minds in Italy and
all of Europe», after Newton’s discoveries which had «added to the
reason Descartes had already brought to philosophy, analysis, its
61
faithful companion» . In the sciences, and in «matters of simple rea-
soning, he recommended in To Young Men of Talent Who Fear Pedants
(‘Ai giovani d’ingegno che temono i pedanti’), the best judgment is
62
«that which results from serious examination» .
The epistemology developed by Verri in his essay on Medicine is ac-
companied by another – briefer and for several aspects hermetic – pro-
grammatic discussion: Cesare Beccaria’s 1765 essay, On Periodic Jour-
63
nals (‘De’ fogli periodici’). The essay illustrates the various techniques
«a periodical writer» must adopt to secure the results most appropriate
for this kind of expression, which are «to make virtue respectable, to
make it pleasant, to inspire that pathos of enthusiasm for which it
seems men for a moment forget themselves for the happiness of
others»: these are the Apology, the Dialogue and «those serious
arguments that invite one to virtue not for rigorous motives of duty,
but for utility’s sake; not with geometric demonstrations, but with the
sweet enchantment of a smooth eloquence neither exalted nor sublime».
Finally, this is the «style of presenting views and highlights that make
one think and stir up the ideas of the reader», with the warning,
however, that periodical journals «should not serve so much to extend
positive ideas as to curb the many negative notions – that is to say, to
destroy the prejudices and pre-conceived ideas which make up the em-
barrassment, the difficulty and, I should almost say, the mountainous
and craggy [terrain] of every science». He concludes:
All these techniques must be weighed up and mixed together with great
care because, as each is excellent of its kind, constant change spurs the
desire and the curiosity to see what follows, nor is one ever wearied by a
boring uniformity, which oozes lethargy and drowsiness over everything .
64
In another suggestive article, The Pleasures of Imagination 65 (‘I
piaceri dell’immaginazione’), Beccaria further observed:

61 FR1, 216.
62 FR1, 392-5, 395.
63 FR 2, 413-6.
64 FR2, 415-6.
65 FR2, 476-80.

n.43 Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XV - Agosto 2018
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)