1. Overview
Provides a brief introduction to Giambattista Vico, summarizing his life, key philosophical ideas, major works, and his lasting impact on subsequent thought. This overview may consider his contributions from a perspective that values social progress, human rights, and democratic development, setting a tone for the article.
2. Life
Details Vico's biography from birth to death, outlining his personal history, academic background, and career path in chronological order.
2.1. Early life and education
Describes his birth in Naples, Italy, family background, early educational experiences, and the period of self-study through which he built his intellectual foundations. This includes his accidental fall and its purported effect on his disposition, and his formal graduation in law.
2.2. Academic career
Covers his time as a tutor in Vatolla, his appointment as Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Naples, his major research and writing activities, his unsuccessful bid for the chair of Law, and his later role as Royal Historiographer.
2.3. Later years and death
Details his life after retiring due to ill health, and the circumstances leading to his death, leaving behind his significant philosophical legacy.
3. Main philosophy
Explains in detail the original concepts and theories that form the core of Vico's philosophical system, highlighting his critique of modern rationalism and his emphasis on human history and culture.
3.1. Critique of Cartesianism and new scientific method
Presents Vico's critical stance on the dominant Cartesian rationalism and its deductive methodology, and explains the empirical, historical, and philological scientific method he proposed for understanding human affairs. This includes his view on the limits of Cartesianism for practical human life.
3.2. Rhetoric and humanism
Discusses Vico's perspective on rhetoric, which he saw as inheriting the classical tradition and central to understanding the human mind and society. It explores his humanistic ideas, emphasizing common sense (sensus communis) and civic life.
3.3. The Verum factum principle
Explains Vico's core epistemological proposition, "Verum esse ipsum factum" (truth is itself something made, or the true and the made are convertible), and how this principle provides the basis for human understanding of history, as humans can know what they have created.
3.4. Philosophy of history: Corsi e ricorsi
Introduces Vico's unique theory of the "courses and recourses" (corsi e ricorsi) of history, detailing how human societies cyclically progress through distinct ages: the age of gods, the age of heroes, and the age of men, and how this pattern repeats.
4. The Scienza Nuova (New Science)
Provides an in-depth analysis of Vico's magnum opus, Scienza Nuova (New Science), examining its main themes, structure, methodology, and its significance in intellectual history as a foundational work for the human sciences.
4.1. Background, purpose, and editions
Briefly explains the socio-intellectual context in which Scienza Nuova was written, its aim to establish a science of human society, and the characteristics of its various editions (1725, 1730, 1744).
4.2. Key concepts and structure
Describes the stages of human mental development, the origins and evolution of language, mythology, law, political institutions, and social customs as analyzed in Scienza Nuova, and outlines the overall structure of the book.
4.3. Methodological innovation and significance
Assesses the innovative methodology of Scienza Nuova, which combines philological analysis with philosophical reflection to study human society and culture, and evaluates its historical value in shaping the social sciences and philosophy of history.
5. Influence and reception
Covers the profound impact of Vico's ideas on later thinkers and various academic disciplines, as well as the general historical evaluation of his scholarly achievements. This section considers how his work has informed understandings of social change and historical development.
5.1. Influence on later scholarship and thought
Details the specific inspiration and influence Vico's work had on key figures in subsequent philosophy, history, sociology, literature, and anthropology, such as Herder, Goethe, Marx, Croce, Collingwood, Joyce, and Said. This includes his role as a "sleeping partner" of the Enlightenment and a precursor to Romantic thought.
5.2. Modern reassessment and academic standing
Highlights the various reinterpretations of Vico's thought since the 20th century, and illuminates the contemporary relevance and academic status of his ideas in modern society and diverse fields of study, recognizing him as a pioneering figure in social science and semiotics.
6. Major works
Presents a list of Giambattista Vico's most important published writings, including their original titles and publication years, to illustrate his scholarly output.