In spite of the importance of Giovanni Battista Vico - the Italian philosopher whose reflections on history, metaphysics, rhetoric, law and other subjects were influential in the shaping of modernity - scholars have debated whether he presented a coherent philosophy or simply a set of provocative random ideas. In this study, James Goetsch argues that Vico's major work, the "New Science", is a sustained, controlled poetic-philosophical meditation on the human world and that it is a philosophy in its own right. According to Goetsch, Vico proposes that we abandon the alliance between logic and metaphysics, and instead form one between logic and the rhetorical and poetical conceptions of human understanding that inform the human community. In this Vico revives the ancient sense of rhetoric found in Aristotle, who stated that logic and rhetoric are counterparts. Vico's philosophical system is best exemplified by the 114 axioms at the base of his "New Science". These axioms, which range over a puzzling variety of subjects, do not follow a logical or geometric model in the conventional sense, making it hard to account for Vico's claim that he thinks in the "geometric manner". Goetsch asserts, however, that they are used by Vico to express what Aristotle called maxims - "thoughts worth thinking" - that establish the fundamental points necessary to speak about human realities. Once this becomes clear, we see that Vico's thought combines history, philosophy and poetry in a comprehensive manner, and gives a new geometry of the human world.
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Editorial Reviews
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Giambattista Vico's major work, The New Science, initially received little attention from European thinkers. It was only in the 19th century when writers such as Coleridge and Thomas Arnold became interested in it and finally in this century, through Benedetto Croce and R.G. Collingwood, that Vico's importance in philosophy was assured. Goetsch (philosophy, Eckerd Coll.) begins with an examination of the system of thought that underpins the 114 axioms forming the basis of The New Science, arguing against thinkers like Isaiah Berlin and Alasdair MacIntyre who see little coherence in Vico's "science." Goetsch argues instead that Vico "roots his science in the human world, finding his inspiration in a philosophical recovery of ancient rhetoric that is yet cognizant of the modern age." Goetsch's interpretation of Vico is certainly welcome in its attempt to view The New Science from a fresh angle and may well result in more new work being done on Vico's writings. Recommended for all academic collections, particularly those with concentrations in epistemology and the philosophy of history.?Terry Skeats, Bishop's Univ. Lib., Lennoxville, Quebec
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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