Giacinto Dragonetti

Giacinto Dragonetti (1847)

Giacinto Dragonetti (28 November 1738 – 7 September 1818) was an Italian jurist and writer. He is best known for his short book A Treatise on Virtues and Rewards, published anonymously in 1766.^[1] In it, Dragonetti advances a theory of action based on awarding virtues, as compared to the incentives/punishment-based approach in modern economics.^[2] In the introduction to the treatise, Dragonetti states "Men have made millions of laws to punish crimes, and they haven't even established one to reward virtues".^[1]

Dragonetti was born in L'Aquila to an old noble family, later moving to Rome and then to Naples in 1760.^[1] Here he became a disciple of Antonio Genovesi.^[2] His A Treatise on Virtues and Rewards, published two years after Cesare Beccaria's On Crimes and Punishments, met with success and was translated into French, English, Russian and Spanish.^[1]

His treatise on virtues was evidently read by Thomas Paine, who quotes "that wise observer of government, Dragonetti" in both Common Sense and a 1792 pamphlet.^[3]

References

1. Bruni, Luigino. "Dragonetti, Giacinto". Treccani. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
2. Bruni, Luigino (December 2013). "On Virtues and Awards: Giacinto Dragonetti and the Tradition of Economia Civile in Enlightenment Italy". Journal of the History of Economic Thought. 35 (4): 517–535. doi:10.1017/S105383721300031X. S2CID 154862340. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
3. Wootton, David (1994). Republicanism, Liberty, and Commercial Society, 1649–1776. Stanford University Press. pp. 36–41. ISBN 9780804723565. Retrieved 3 September 2022.