On the Oldest Wisdom of Italy

Author: (Italian) Vico
Publisher:
Publish 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 for us to digest today. This book is Vico's first monograph. On the Most Ancient Wisdom of Italy (hereinafter referred to as Ancient Wisdom) is Vico's first monograph. The seven university opening lectures he delivered previously were performed out of duty, and only the seventh lecture, On the Methods of Study in Our Time, was published as a standalone volume a year before this book's publication. Additionally, as Vico himself said, this work was written for scholars, while the previous humanities lectures were aimed at young students. Vico originally planned to write three books, but after publishing the first one, Metaphysics, the project was never completed. Regarding the second book, Physics, Vico only had a rough outline, and later in 1713, he published a small pamphlet titled On the Equilibrium of Living Beings with only a title.