Teodoro de Almeida | |
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| Born | (1722-01-07)7 January 1722 |
| Died | 18 April 1804(1804-04-18) (aged 82) |
| Notable work | O Feliz Independente do Mundo e da Fortuna (1779) |
Teodoro de AlmeidaC.O.FRS (7 January 1722 – 18 April 1804) was a PortugueseCatholic priest, member of theCongregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, a writer and philosopher, and a leading personage of thePortuguese Enlightenment.
Almeida is noted for his popularisation of the experimental sciences through his ten-volumeRecreação Filosófica ou Diálogo sobre a Filosofia Natural ("Philosophical Recreation, or, a Dialogue on Natural Philosophy", published 1751–1799), written "not for those who are educated in deep learning, but for those that, by lack of books written in their mother tongue, live without instruction".[1] His ideas onnatural philosophy were marked byEnlightenment views on the use ofreason and thescientific method, a theological understanding of nature (a sense of harmony betweennatural philosophy andreligious orthodoxy), and a methodological eclecticism that opposedappeals to authority.[2] He was elected Fellow of theRoyal Society of London in 1758.[3]
As a writer, Almeida was influenced by the literary currents of theArcádia Lusitana in the mid-century, which stressed realism as well as the utility of poetry. He shared a concern about themelancholia of the Pre-Romantics with others like theMarquise of Alorna orBocage, but his optimism derived from the knowledge gained from reason and religion. HisO Feliz Independente do Mundo e da Fortuna ("The Happy Man, Independent of World and Fortune", published 1799), sought to show "with the demonstrative force of geometry and with poetic grace, the means to be happy in this world."[4]
Because of his opposition to theenlightened despotic policies of theMarquis of Pombal, Almeida was banished toPorto in 1760 and from there toSpain in 1768, and on toFrance in 1769. While in France, he settled inBayonne, and choseAmbroise de Lombez as hisspiritual director, subscribing to his brand of piety based on interior resignation and confidence in God's grace.[4] He returned to Lisbon after the accession ofQueen Maria I, where he continued his successful teaching career, and was one of the founding members of theLisbon Academy of Sciences in 1779.[4] He delivered the controversial inaugural address at the Academy's first formal session, on 4 July 1780, in which he compared the country's backwardness in scientific matters to that of theKingdom of Morocco.[5]
Like the rest of the Portuguese elites, Almeida was horrified by the worst excesses of theFrench Revolution, and spent his final years as a vocal champion of Portugal's Christian heritage against atheism and the errors of a society based on the political philosophy ofJean-Jacques Rousseau.[4]
