The announcement of the new scientia: the relevance of philology in the thought of Giambattista Vico

Abstract

This article presents some elements of the genesis of the idea of a nuova scienza in Giambattista Vico, based on the work named De uno universi iuris principio et fine uno or simply Il Dirittto Universale, published in 1720. The idea of a nuova scienza of civil life, developed in Scienza Nuova, was first announced in the chapter named A New Science is Essayed [Nova Scientia Tentatur] of Dirittto Universale. This chapter marks the begin-ning of the philosophical maturation that led the author to the development of his major work, Scienza Nuova. The importance of Dirittto Universale for this study concerns its ideas on right. Vico has already developed in this work many of the ideas that will be relevant to the development of the project of a nuova scienza of human knowledge. We divided this presentation in two parts: the first one entitled the natural law of nations: Vico and il Dirittto Universale. We highlight the work Dirittto Universale and present the first evidence that provided the advent of the idea of scienza nuova of human knowledge; the second one named Scienza Nuova prima: the principles of a new science of human knowledge. We endeavor to explain the evolution of the arguments first announced in Il Dirittto Universale, relying on the interpretation of the Scienza Nuova of 1725.