Vico, Giovanni Battista

(1668–1744)

   Historian and Philosopher.

   Vico was born near Naples, Italy, and for much of his life he taught rhetoric at Naples University. He is remembered for his Principii di Una Scienza Nuova d’Intorno alla Natura Comune delle Nazioni. This was one of the first modern philosophies of history. Vico argued that by studying the nature of ancient languages and by examining the myths and rituals of the ancient world, much could be learnt of the organisation of society. He showed that the ‘natural law’ postulated by the philosophers of his time was not compatible with these early writings and he distinguished between mathematical and scientific knowledge and the knowledge that comes from imaginative empathy. Thus he must be regarded as an important figure in the development of the academic discipline of anthropology.

   I. Berlin, Vico and Herder: Two Studies in the History of Ideas (1976);

   G. Tagliacozzo (ed.), Gianbattista Vico: An International Symposium (1969);

   L. Pompa, Vico: A Study of the New Science (1990);

   P. Burke, Vico (1985).