Letter to Ludovico Antonio Muratori
Joseph Attias
1733
To satisfy your doubt concerning my signature, I have to tell you, in all philosophical frankness, that I was born with a burning desire and the greatest curiosity to know, more as a way to get to comprehend the extent and limits of human knowledge than to practice any profitable profession or get some honorary office by these means.
When I opened…
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Creator Bio
Joseph Attias
Joseph “Filalete” (“Lover of Truth”) Attias was a man of the early Italian Enlightenment who was part of both the Jewish and non-Jewish intellectual worlds. He was born to a wealthy family of New Christian origin and raised in Livorno. After a brief foray into business, Attias decided to devote his life to learning. He accumulated a large library and conversed (and corresponded) with scholars of various fields. Although he did not write any (known) books, he did leave behind a trove of correspondence with peers and scholars.
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