On the Oldest Wisdom of Italy: Unearthing It from Latin Origins

Author: (Italian) Vico, translated by Zhang Xiaoyong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Giambattista Vico (1668—1744) was one of the greatest national philosophers of modern Italy and one of the greatest thinkers in modern world history. He made outstanding pioneering contributions in various fields such as philosophy, historiography, philology, law, aesthetics, pedagogy, anthropology, and theology, and many of his ideas are still waiting to be digested by us today. This book is the first monograph on Vico's life. On the Most Ancient Wisdom of Italy (hereinafter referred to as Ancient Wisdom) is the first monograph of Vico's life. The previous seven university commencement speeches were given out of duty, and only the seventh speech, On the Methods of Study in Our Time, was published as a standalone book a year before this book's publication. Additionally, as Vico himself said, this article was written for scholars, while the previous humanistic speeches were aimed at young students. Vico originally planned to write three books, but after publishing the first one, Metaphysics, this work was never completed. Regarding the second part, Physics, Vico only had a rough idea, and later in 1713, a small pamphlet titled On the Balance of Living Beings was published, which only contained an introduction.