The Positive School of Criminology

In a series of three lectures delivered to eager students in Naples at the turn of the twentieth century, the speaker sets out to share a bold vision: that the study of crime can be approached with the same rigor and optimism as the natural sciences. He frames his mission as both a personal calling and a collective aspiration, urging young minds to seek an ideal that lifts society beyond selfish interests. By presenting criminology as a scientific discipline, he hopes to inspire a new generation to view moral maladies with the same analytical clarity once reserved for physical disease.

The core of these talks introduces the Positive School of Criminology, a framework that treats crime, insanity, and suicide as interlinked “social diseases” demanding precise diagnosis and humane remedies. Contrasting the triumphs of nineteenth‑century medicine over contagious illnesses, the lecturer argues that moral ills have risen, calling for an empirical, socially grounded approach. He traces the school’s emergence to the late nineteenth century, emphasizing how everyday conditions and historical forces shape criminal behavior, and inviting listeners to consider how scientific insight might reshape justice and prevention.