The Portuguese Popularizer of Science Teodoro De Almeida: Agendas, Publics, and Bilingualism

Abstract

The life of Portuguese Oratoriali priest Teodoro de Almeida (1722-1 804) spanned most of eighteenth century. His works marked Portuguese Enlightenment. He was persecuted by Marquis of Pombal, Minister for King Jose I, and had to endure a period of exile abroad, from 1768 to 1778, first in Spain and then in France. Returning to Portugal, he was co-founder, in 1779, with Duke of Lafoes, and Abbot Correia da Serra, amongst others, of Royal Academy of Sciences of Lisbon. He was an advocate and a popularizer of Moderns - by opposition to Aristotelian-Scholastic natural philosophy - and ten-volume Recreasao filolofica, ou Dialogo sobre afilozofia natural, para instruccâo depessoas curiozas, que nao frequentarao as aulas (Philosophical recreation, or Dialogue on natural philosophy, for instruction of curious people who could not attend classes), giving an account of natural phenomena and advancements of experimental philosophy, was his masterpiece on subject. Almeida was, geographically, a peripheral natural philosopher, whose ideas on natural philosophy were moulded by three features: articulation of experimental philosophy with Enlightenment ideas about of reason and experiment; a theological understanding of nature merged with idea of harmony between natural philosophy and religious orthodoxy; and a methodological eclecticism opposing arguments of authority.In this paper I will analyse different agendas that can be found in Almeida's Philosophical recreation. I will also examine different types of audience involved in Almeida's project - lay versus expert and real versus virtual - and show in what ways these dichotomies are effective in describing Almeida's audience. I will also argue for bilingual nature of Almeida's work, in sense used by Mario Biagioli in regard to Galileo. This will be done in context of a discussion of manifold nature of popularization of knowledge taken to be an instance of process of appropriation of modern natural philosophy in eighteenth-century Portugal.PATHS OF MODERNIZATION IN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY PORTUGALDuring eighteenth century, proliferation of Academies for discussion of historical, literary or scientific questions, publication of books and periodicals of philosophical character, creation of public lectures on experimental philosophy and increasing number of booksellers all constituted marks of modernization. Opposed to Aristotelianism and Scholasticism, modernization was characterized by what Immanuel Kant called the public of reason:This enlightenment requires nothing but freedom - and most innocent of all that may be called freedom; freedom to make public of one's reason in all matters.... By public of one's reason I mean that which aman, as scholar, makes of it before reading public. I call private use that which a man makes of his reason in a civic post that has been entrusted to him.1Traceable throughout eighteenth-century Portugal, emergence of public of reason encompassed engagement of three groups of contributors: Ericeira Circle, so called Europeanized intellectuals, and Oratorians.2 These groups are used here as structuring units involved in appropriation of natural philosophy. But one should have in mind that they are not distinct groups. For instance, some Oratorians were Europeanized intellectuals and belonged to Ericeira Circle. On other hand, individual contributions cannot be always subsumed under collective trends.During first half of eighteenth century new practices of cultural, social and economic nature were furthered amongst a circle of friends and proteges of D. Francisco Xavier de Menezes, fourth Count of Ericeira. The Count of Ericiera was a member of Roman Academy of Arcadia and a fellow of Royal Society of London. He corresponded with learned Europeans such as Nicolas Boileau (whose Art poetique he translated into Portugese), Francesco Bianchini, Ludovico Muratori, and Pierre Bayle. …