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THE LIBRARYOFTHE UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIALOS ANGELES


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WORKS BY PROFESSOR FLINT.

THEISM.Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo, 7s. 6(1."The merits of Professor Flint are great, both as a writer and a thinker.Powerful thinking is found on every page, couched in the clearest style,while a peculiar aptness of expression everywhere characterises it." The

Inquirer."A work of the rarest excellence and of the highest value as an incisiveand powerful weapon of intellectual warfare directed against the materialisticand atheistical tendencies of the day The most marked excellence of thevolume before us, and, to our mind, by far the most momentous, is thistheauthor is not content with standing on the defensive and sweeping into logicalannihilation almost every argument advanced against his position by his ad-versaries, but he carries the war boldly and most effectually into the enemy'scamp, and drives him from every stronghold he occupies." Standard.

AI^TI-THEISTIC THEOEIES.Second Edition. Crown 8vo, 10s. 6d.

"These are not simply the lectures of an apologetic theologian, but of onewho is by nature and culture a critic and historian of thought. They aremarked by wide sympathies and knowledge, lucidity of exposition, vigour ofstyle, and cogency of argumentation The oldest and the newest ' anti-theistic theories' are here expounded, appraised, and criticised Thebook is a searching and honest and honourable criticism of the theories thatseek to dispossess and replace Theism." The Academy."There is a great amount of learning and critical skill shown in this volume,and it has been well digested and assimilated by the mind of the author. Hetakes a wide sweep, and gives an epitome of systems which negative religion,both ancient and modern Its perfect clearness of style is such, that themost abstruse matters may be grasped by any reader who will give but com-mon attention in reading it. But the thought is not clear because of theabsence of what is called mysticism, but because the mysticism present isilluminated by the light of a clear reason. It is a book in which the thinkerwill delight, not less for its nervous energy of style than for its depth andpower of thought." Inquirer.

III.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTOEY IN EUEOPE.Vol. I., Containing the History of that PhilosophyIN France and Germany. 8vo, 15s.

"A most important work If the completion of his task fulfils thepromise of his first instalment, he will have produced a work which cannotfail to mark an epoch in English philosophical literature." ^Fes


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PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS.LECTURES ON METAPHYSICS. By Sir William

Hamilton, Bart., Professor of Logic and Metaphysics in theUniversity of Edinburgh. Edited by the Very Rev. H. L. Man-sell, LL.D., Dean of St Paul's, and John Veitch, LL.D., Pro-fessor of Logic and Rhetoric, Glasgow. Sixth Edition. 2 vols.8vo. 24s.

LECTURES ON LOGIC. By Sir William Hamilton,Bart. Edited by the Same. Third Edition. 2 vols. 8vo. 24s.

DISCUSSIONS ON PHILOSOPHY AND LITERA-TURE, EDUCATION AND UNIVERSITY REFORM. BySir William Hamilton, Bart. Third Edition. 8vo. 21s.

PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS OF THE LATE JAMESFREDERICK PERRIER, B.A. Oxon., LL.D., Professor ofMoral Philosophy and Political Economy in the University ofSt Andrews. 3 vols, crown 8vo. 34s. 6d.

The following are sold separately :INSTITUTES OF METAPHYSIC. Third Edition. 10s. 6d.LECTURES ON THE EARLY GREEK PHILOSOPHY.New Edition. 10s. 6d.PHILOSOPHICAL REMAINS, including the Lectures

on Early Greek Philosophy. Edited by Sir Alex.Grant, Bart., D.C.L., and Professor Lushington. 2vols. 24s.

PORT ROYAL LOGIC. Translated from tlie French ;with Introduction, Notes, and Appendix. By THOMAS SPEN-CER BAYNES, LL.D., Professor of Logic, Rhetoric, andMetaphysics in the University of St Andrews. Eighth Edition.12mo. 4s.

DESCARTES : On the Method of Rightly Conducting theReason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences ; and hisMeditations, and Selections from his Principles of Philo-sophy. With a new Introductory Essay, Historical and Critical.By JOHN VEITCH, LL.D., Professor of Logic and Rhetoric inthe University of Glasgow. Eighth Edition. Post 8vo. 6s. 6d.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD & SONS, Edinburgh and London.


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^Ijtl0S0j3fjuaI Classixs for (Sixglb^ |Uair^rsEDITED BY

AYILLIA]\r KN^IGHT, LL.D.PROFESSOR OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY, UKIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS

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The \/olumes published of this Series containI. DESCARTES, ... By Professor Mahaffy, Dublin.

II. BUTLER, . . By the Rev. W. Lucas Collins, M.A.III. BERKELEY, ... By Professor Eraser, Ediiiburgli.IV. FICHTE, By Professor Adamson, Owens College, Mancliester,V. KANT, .... By Professor Wallace, Oxford.VI. HAMILTON, ... By Professor Veitch, Glasgow.VII. HEGEL, . . -By Professor Edward Caird, Glasgow,

VIII. LEIBNIZ, .... By John Theodore Merz.IX. VICO, .... By Professor Flint, Edinburgh.

HOBBES,HUME,BACON,SPINOZA,

In preiparaiionBy Professor Croom Robertson, London,

By the Editor.By Professor Nichol, Glasgow.

By the Very Rev. Principal Caird, Glasgow.


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V I C

EGBERT FLINTPROFESSOR TN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH,

CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, ETC.

CHEAP EDITION

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONSEDINBURGH AND LONDON

MCMT


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100

CONTENTS.

CHAP.I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

INTRODUCTORY ITALY AND NAPLES,EARLY LIFE (1668-1694)VICO AS STUDENT,LATER LIFE (1694-1744) VICO AS TEACHERAND AUTHOR, . . . .

GENERAL ESTIMATE OF VICO's CHARACTERAND WORK, . . . .

ACADEMIC ORATIONSGENERAL PHILOSOPHI-CAL AIMS,VICO's METAPHYSICS,

I. GENERAL, . .II. THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE,

III. COSMOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY,VICO AS A THEORIST ON LAW,TRANSITION TO THE NEW SCIENCE, .THE NEW SCIENCE, .NOTE ON " VICO LITERATURE,"

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V I C 0.

CHAPTER 1.IXTRODUCTORYITALY AXD NAPLES.

The name of Yico is unfamiliar to English readers. Itdoes not follow that a volume treating of his life, writ-ings, and speculations, must be out of place in a seriesof " Philosophical Classics." Every great philosopherhas not obtained world-wide popularity. The sphereof many a very powerful thinker's fame and actionis limited by a definite local or linguistic line. BishopEutler may be selected as an example. Eew Englishphilosophers have had more influence on British andAmerican thought than the author of ' The Analogyand of ' The Sermons on Human IS'ature.' But he hasliad little effect on the intellectual development of France,Germany, or Italy. Even in Germany the ignorance dis-played regarding him is almost incredible. Erdmann inhis ' History of Philosophy ' makes no reference to him.XJeberweg devotes to him three inaccurate lines. Dornerr. IX. A


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2 Vico.

in his ' History of Protestant Theology ' merely mentionshis name. In Herzog's ' Theological Encyclopt^dia,' andin Xoack's ' Philosophical Dictionary,' he has not beenhonoured even with the briefest article, although theformer is largely and the latter wholly biographical.The late Dr Tholuck, indeed, made him the subject ofan essay, but unfortunately it was depreciatory andworthless. It would be an error, however, to infer thatbecause Butler is thus practically imknown, and has beenwholly uninfiuential, in learned and thoughtfid. Germany,he cannot really be entitled to the intellectual rank gen-erally assigned him in this country; or that Germanymight not have been much the better had she been moreacquainted with his teachings and more imbued withhis spirit ; or that the effect which his writings have pro-duced on the British and American mind is not of itselfan amply sufficient reason for studying these ^^^itingswith interest. In like manner we must not concludethat Yico cannot have been a great thinker, or a veryinfluential thinker, because he is little known in Britain,and few traces of his ideas can be found in the pages ofBritish authors. Such a conclusion is not a fair inferencefrom British ignorance ; and it is not true in itself.

All who have studied the writings of Yico haveacknowledged the superiority of his genius. It is im-possible to peruse the ' Scienza Xuova ' without feelingone's self in contact with a singularly profound and power-ful intelligence. His mind was not, indeed, harmoni-ously developed ; it had obvious weaknesses and de-fects ; but it was also rich in rare endowments, capableof altogether special achievements, fuU of the divine af-flatus, formed to conceive and diff'use grand and original


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His Influence. 3ideas. Then, the work which he actually accomplishedwas of permanent value. He earned for himself a dis-tinct place in the history of jjhilosophy, by tracing forthe mind new paths into neglected departments of know-ledge, and sowing around him many fruitful seeds oftruth. The more the sciences of history, of society, andof law are cultivated, the more will his reputation grow,owing to the number of original and profound suggestionsin his writings as to the subjects with which thesesciences are conversant. It was not given to him toreap as well as to sow ; but the sower is not to be deprivedof the honour which is his due, because he is not alsothe reaper. As the harvest ripens in the fields indicated,the value of Vico's sowing can scarcely fail to becomeincreasingly apparent. Further, the influence which hehas already exercised has been far from slight. In hisown age, indeed, he was not appreciated. But in thelatter half of the eighteenth century the best spirits ofItaly adopted and elaborated various of his leading prin-ciples. In the nineteenth century the most renownedof Italian philosophersGioberti, Mamiani, and otherdistinguished men have rejoiced to enrol themselvesunder his flag. He has been a jjowerful living forcein the great Italian awakening which this age has wit-nessed. His influence is still growing, notwithstand-ing the spread of empiricism and absolute idealism inItaly. The star of Yico shows no sign of paling beforethose of Comte and Hegel ; it rather appears to derivefrom theni additional brightness. And the more hispower has come to be felt within Italy, the more has italso spread beyond it. France, in particular, during thelast fifty years, has supplied many appreciative students


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Vico.

of liis writings. It is enough to mention the names ofMichelet, Qiiiuet, Cousin, Jouffroy, Eallanche, Buchez,Eenouvier, Franck, De Ferron, and Yacherot.One of the causes which have limited the popularityof Yico has been it can scarcely be doubted thethorouglily Italian character of his thmking. He wasas typically Italian as Bishop Butler was English. Hisphilosophy was, indeed, an isolated thing in the genera-tion to which he belonged, but it was so only becausemore truly national than anything else in that genera-tion. At a time when Italy was as much subjugated bythe ideas as by the arms of her neighbours, he was ableto maintain his independence and individuality as athinker ; and by being true to himself he was true tohis country, the genius of which fo^ind expressionthrough him as through no other of his contemporaries.This has contributed to render his renown more peculiarlyItalian, and less cosmopolitan, than it would otherwisehave been. It really increases, however, in some respects,the significance and value of his work. Nationality inthought as in action is a force as well as a limit; itbrings gain as well as loss. Yico has gained more thanhe lost by it. He has the same sort of mterest and un-portance for those who wish to understand the characterof Italian philosophy, as Descartes has for those whowish to understand the character of French philosophy,or Locke for those who wish to understand Englishphilosophy, or Kant for those who ^vish to understandGerman philosophy.The surroimdings of Yico were not favourable to the

development of genius. Italy, during his lifetime, was


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6 Vico.

was consequently devoid of the seed and sap of anenduring and fruitful life. A civilisation rooted mainlyin contempt for ignorance and in appreciation of intellec-tual freedom and of aesthetic refinement, but almostwholly cut off from reverence for the divine, devotion toduty, and love of country, however it may be laden withpromise in spring, will produce little save disappoint-ment in autumn. Such a civilisation was to be seen inthe Italian Eenaissance. The marvellous display ofintellectual force wdiich characterised it was almostequalled by the infidelity, selfishness, and depravitywhich it revealed in the ruling and literary classes;the result was that instead of progress there was rapiddeterioration. The rivalry of the petty states into whiclithe country was dividedthe feuds of the factions ineach district and citythe mischievous careers of tyrants,statesmen, and conspirators, animated chiefly by cupidity,envy, revenge, and other evil passsionsthe ambitionsand intrigues of the Court of Eomethe comparativeunity of the neighbouring nations, and their consequentmilitary superiority,led to the loss of liberty and ofeverything which gives dignity and happiness to apeople's life. By the time of Yico, Italy had sunkinto a condition of deep degradation. France, England,Spain, the iN'etherlands, and the Empire were far aheadof her. Commerce had almost deserted her shores ; heragriculture and industry languished ; her princes hadceased to encourage even painting and architecture.Poetry had become mainly a mechanical art. Scholarswere afraid to cultivate studies which might lead themto conclusions of which the priests or the magistratesmight disapprove, and hence occupied themselves chiefly


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State of Italy. 7with safe subjects, like mathematics and archaeology.There was no freedom of thought in matters of religionthere was no public spirit in matters of policy; theJesuit was in the schools ; foreign soldiers were in thecitadels.

Independent philosophical speculation was almostextinct in Italy during the greater part of the seven-teenth century. Physical science, indeed, fortunatelystill afforded to some extent a sphere for the exerciseof intellect. Galileo might be compelled to recant hisdiscoveries, but mathematical and experimental investi-gation could not be arrested. Castelli, Cavalieri, Torri-ceUi, and others, who were proud to regard themselvesas disciples of Galileo, did honour to their coimtry. Butin philosophy Italy ceased to guide other nations, or evento think for herself. As a natural consequence of nativespeculation being denied the freedom Avhich is indis-pensable to a vigorous vitality, foreign speculation gainedascendancy. A^Tiere independence and originality ofthought are treated as crimes, imitation and appropri-ation become the only intellectual virtues attainable,except by men of rare and peculiar genius. Yico livedjust at the time when the Cartesian philosoj)hy wasspreading through the peninsula, and not long beforesensationalism began to make its power widely felt.He was strongly opposed to Cartesianism ; he wouldhave been still more strongly opposed to sensationalism.80 long as either Cartesianism or sensationalism pre-vailed, his doctrines could not be impartially appre-ciated. "While what was new in the philosophicalthought of Italy during the age of Yico was chieflyforeign, and indeed chiefly French, what was old was


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8 Vico.largely antiquated. A feeble continuation of the Eenais-sance could still be traced, but the reaction towardsmedievalism was much more powerful, and had madean effete scholasticism as dominant as its own deadnessallowed it to be. Ingenuous young men aspiring tostudy philosophy were subjected to courses of instruc-tion calculated only, as a rule, to extinguish enthusiasmand to destroy insight, to bring philosophy into con-tempt, and to stu]3efy and pervert the mmd. The mostartificial and perplexing, arid and repulsive treatiseswere put into their hands as primers and text-books.

j^early the whole of Vico's life was spent in Xaples.That cityso celebrated for the beauty of its situationhas had a long and agitated history, under Greeks,Oscans, Romans, Goths, Byzantines, iN'ormans, Germans,Spaniards, Austrians, Bourbons, and Italians. " Thekingdom of Naples," says P. Yillari, " resembles a per-petually stormy sea, which becomes monotonous by thechangeless uniformity of its motion." During the firstthirty-two years of Vico's life, Charles II. of Spainwas its sovereign. He ruled it, as his predecessorsfrom the time of Ferdinand the Catholic had done,through viceroys. Most of these showed little wishto govern well; and the best of them, however muchthey wished to do so, could not govern well, becausethey were forced to govern in what were supposed to bethe interests of Spain. ^ The death of Charles II. in1700 led to the War of Succession in Europe, and for

1 Ample information as to the condition of Naples under thegovernors appointed by Charles II, of Spain will be found in thelast two books of Giannone's 'Istoria Civile del Regno di Napoli.'This work was translated into English by Captain James Ogilvie.Lond.: 1729-31. 2 vols.


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Condition of Nci'pUs. 9thirteen years !N"aples was the scene of almost incessantstrife, conspiracy, and misrule.^ Do\vn to 1734 it wasunder Austrian viceroys, who were only able to retaintheir armed grasp of it with difficulty. From this dateduring all the later years of Yico's life it was under thesway of Charles III. of Bourbon, who j^roved a wiseand honourable ruler. ^ The events which took placearound our philosopher affected, of course, in somedegree his fortunes as a private individual. He tookno part, however, in public affairs. He exerted neitherby speech nor action any political influence. His lifewas wholly the life of a scholar and tlimker. ^otwith-standmg this, a few remarks regarding the condition ofXaples in his time seem to be necessary. Xo life canbe understood altogether apart from the environment inwhich it is developed, ^^o human life is uninfluencedand unmodified by its social surroundings.The general condition of jS'aples, then, diu-ing the

period of Yico's intellectual growth and activitytheperiod from 1668 to 1734 may perhaps be charac-terised as follows without much inaccuracy or in-justice :

The supreme rulers of the kingdom were foreignsovereigns, who dealt with it as a conquered land, andwhose wills could set aside any law. Their resident

1 One incident of tlie deplorable period which immediately fol-lowed the close of the dominion of the House of Spanish Austriathe so-called conspiracy of Macchiahas been described at lengthby Vico himself in his 'De Parthenopea Conjuratione.' See Opere,vol. i. pp. 317-378.

2 His reign is described in the first book of CoUetta's ' Storia delReame di Napoli.' CoUetta's work has been translated into Englishby S. Homer. Edinburgh : 1S5S. 2 vols.


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10 Vico.representatives, the viceroys, might equally contravenelaw so long as they satisfied their masters. The supremecouncil, which assisted the king, and the collateral coun-cil, which assisted the viceroy, certainly did not aimprimarily at the good of the governed. Kings, viceroys,and their councillors, however, introduced not a fewreforms, and performed many munificent acts. Theirlove of popularity counteracted to a considerable extentsome of their worst temptations. It prompted them topatronise art and literature, but unfortunately in wayswhich tended to debase both, and especially the latter.Any popular institutions which existed possessed littleinfluence. The common people were able to act on theGovernment only by tumults and insurrections, whichwere frequent, the IS^eapolitans being highly susceptibleand impulsive. These abrupt, violent, emotional erup-tions seldom, if ever, left any satisfactory results behindthem. The whole civil administration was corrupt, andthe financial administration was fraudulent in the ex-treme. Taxation was scandalously unjust, owing to theexemptions of privileged classes and persons ; and, atthe same time, insanely rapacious. Commerce was sofettered as to be insignificant; agricultiKe was so bur-dened that naturally luxuriant districts had almostbecome deserts. The peasants were few and wretched ;bandits were so numerous as to be formidable to thenobles in their castles, and to the citizens in walledtowns ; the thieves in the city of ISTaples alone werereckoned in the judicial census of 1735 at 30,000 ; thebeggars were, of coiu-se, much more numerous. Therewas no native militia, Neapolitans being forced intoforeign service, while their own country was oppressed


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Condition of NafUs, 11with an alien soldiery. The feudal system existedentire, yet feudal dignities and privileges, like officialpositions, could be bought from avaricious viceroys bythe lowest and basest persons who had contrived to getmoney to purchase them. The barons still retainedlarge bodies of followers, but they had ceased to seekdistinction in war, and most of them spent their timein sloth, in the practice of degrading vices, or in thecommission of hateful crimes. They readily combinedagainst the Government either to defend their old, orto extort new, immunities ; but their consciousness offorming a caste at once feared and despised, also causedthem always to render it their aid in opposition to themovements of the common population. At the sametime, there were among them courteous, cultured, gener-ous, honourable men, students themselves, and the asso-ciates and friends of the learned.

There was a great want of justice in the land. Itwas difficult to obtain right decisions from the tribunals,and still more difficult to get such decisions carried intopractice. But laws and lawyers were very numerous.There were no less than eleven systems of legislationsimultaneously in force within the kingdom, and thecity swarmed with avvocati. Scarcely any restrictionswere placed on entrance to the legal profession, althoughit was, perhaps, the only secular profession which couldlead to affluence and power. The great majority of itsmembers in Naples during the lifetime of Yico were,unless they have been much calumniated, of a verymean type of character. It had also, however, not afew worthy representatives,men imbued with a genuinelove of learning and culture. The study of law, in fact,


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12 Vico.was cultivated in Xaples, throughout the ^^eriod underconsideration, with remarkable activity and intelligence.Francis d'Andrea exerted a great and beneficial influ-ence through his personal example ; and Aulisio, Mari-ano, Gravina, and others, produced juridical workswhich are still regarded as valuable. Probably in noother city were more treatises on legal subjects publisheddimng the last two decades of the seventeenth and thefirst three decades of the eighteenth century than inIS'aples. Vico's entire philosophy arose from a study oflaw. It must not be forgotten that he was only oneamong many in jSTaples whose minds were energeticallyengaged in that study.The power of the Church was great, and its wealthenormous. The number of ecclesiastics in the kingdom

was about 100,000, and in the city about 16,000. ThePope was incessantly mterfering with the administrationof afi'airs. The clergy, as a body, were not held in highrespect, but they had a strong hold on the people throughtheir superstitions. Education was completely under thecontrol of the Church, and largely under the control ofthe Jesuits. Philosophy was, consequently, only taughtin its scholastic forms, and from books which had re-ceived ecclesiastical approbation. A philosophy whichassumed an anti-religious or anti-churchly attitude wouldnot have been tolerated. The persecution of the his-torian Giannone is an instance of how the critics ofclerical pretensions were treated.

The general character of the ISTeapolitan people wasfixed long before the time of Yico. In poems, tales, andhistories of the fifteenth century its features are alreadyclearly visible. It is a character as full of contrasts as


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14 Vico.literary freshness or liigb. literary excellence. The com-mon conception of Yico as a solitary plant growing outof a dry soil is altogether erroneous. As comparedwith the two generations which preceded it, that ofVico was the subject of a notable literary and scientificrevival. Poets were, if not very eminent, certainly verynumerous and very enthusiastic. History had itsGiannone ; historical j^^îlosophy its Yico ; politicalphilosophy its Gravina and Doria. Law, as has beenalready mentioned, was zealously studied by manysuperior men. Physical research was piursued withsuccess by Borelli, Cornelio, Circillo, &c. Several" academies " honourably known in the history of learn-ing and science were prosperous and active.

IN'aples is a city which has considerable interest forthe student of the history of jDhilosophy. ThomasAqumas and Giordano Bruno were born in its neigh-bourhood. In IS'aples Tilesio published his celebratedexposition of his system ' De rerum natura juxta pro-pria principia' (1586); here he orally propagated hisviews and combated the current Aristotelianism, untilhe had to withdraw to his native Cosenza to escape thepersecution of the monks ; here he founded the AcademiaCosentina or Telesiana, which, wîth the still olderAcademia Secretorum [N'aturae, did much to evoke andsustain the love of mathematical and physical research.In Naples CampaneUa taught with passionate ardour,and suffered long imprisonment. ]âples was thecentre of Cartesian propagandism in Italy. Within itswalls Yico spent aU except eight years of his life. Inthe time which has since elapsed, philosophy has neverlong failed to find in ]Sraples true disciples. In the


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CoTulition of Naples. 15latter half of tlie eighteenth century Genovesi, Filaii-gieri, Pagano, and a considerable band of kindredspirits, fostered among their fellow-citizens alike thelove of wisdom and zeal for the promotion of humanwelfare. Li the earlier part of the present centuryNaples could boast in Galup23i the possession of themost illustrious Italian ^philosopher of his time. And inour own day Spaventa and Vera, with their numerousfriends and pupilsthe ardent propagators of Hegeliandoctrines in contemporary Italyhave not only worthilymaintained but greatly increased its philosophical fame.


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16

CHAPTEE II.EARLY LIFE (1668-1694) VICO AS STUDENT.

It is ill itself an instructive and characteristic fact thatYico should have "WTitten an account of his own life witha view to show how his system of beliefs had beengradually evolved and elaborated. It illustrates howthoroughly the great idea of historical development hadtaken possession of him. He regarded the descriptionwhich Descartes gave of his studies in the 'Discourseon Method' as so unnatural and incredible, that hedid not hesitate to pronounce it a fiction adroitlyinsinuated to exalt its author at the expense of his pre-decessors ; and he undertook, for his own part, to tracein a truly historical way how a mind had been formedand educated. The ' Vita di Giambattista Yico scrittada se medesimo ' is his own introduction to his ownworks ; and it is an indispensable introduction to them.As regards general design, it is very similar to theAutobiography of J. S. MiU, and consequently it holdsmuch the same relation to the other works of Yicoas the Autobiography to those of Mill, although itwould be difficult to find two minds or two educationsmore unlike than those of Yico and Mill. It is the


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Biography. 17chief source of our knowledge of Yico's life, but it canbe considerably supplemented from his correspondence.The materials of the following biographical sketch aredrawn, of course, from these the original sources of in-formation. It is brief and general, because it will still benecessary in subsequent chapters, when treating of Yico'sworks, to refer to his life. His works were in a raredegree the outcome of his life, and they can only beunderstood when viewed as springing from it.^Vico was born in Naples on the 23d of June 1668.He was the child of Antonio Yico and Candida Masullo,and apparently their only child, as in his Autobiographyhe makes no mention of brothers or sisters. He was bap-tised in a church dedicated to St Januarius," la chiesadi S. Gennaro, all' Olmo,"and received the name, verycommon in JSTaples, of John Baptist (Giovanni Battista,Giambattista). His father kept a small bookshop oppos-ite the Monte della Pieta, or public loan-establishment,and probably the occupation of the father helped togive to the life of the son the direction which it took."While his father was of a cheerful and lively disposi-

1 The references in the following pages to Vico's writings are always,when not otherwise stated, to Ferrari's second edition of the ' Operedi Giambattista Vico ordinate ed illustrate coll' analisi storica dellaniente di Vico in relazione alia scienza della civilita,' 6 vol. Milano,1852-54. The "Vita" is contained in vol. iv. (pp. 326-416). Vil-larosa's supplementary information is appended (pp. 417-424). Vico'scorrespondence is to be found in vol. vi. Prof. G. de Steffano hasalso edited Vico's ' Opere complete illustrate e tradotte da Pomodoro.'8 vols., 1858-69. This edition I have nowhere seen noticed, and itmay be regarded as non-existent out of Italy. I have only consultedit in order to read the Sinopsi al Diritto, which Ferrari was unable todiscover. The eighth volume consists of the Discourse of Galassoand the Five Orations of Vico edited by him, of which an account isgiven in chap. v.

P. IX. B


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1 Vico.

tion, his mother had a strong tendency to melancholy,and he believed that he could detect in himself theoperation of the temperaments of both parents. In earlychildhood he displayed restless quickness of intellectand intense love of knowledge. A fall from a stah' mhis seventh year so seriously fractured his skull thatthe physician declared he would either die or become anidiot. It interrupted the course of his education forthree years. He ascribed to it also a considerablechange on his mental character, rendering him moreinclined to melancholy, self-analysis, and reflection.He returned to school in his tenth year with powers

of study quite unimpaired by his accident. It was soonfound that in the private institution to which he wassent no other pupil could keep pace with him, andaccordingly he was transferred to a secondary school,which was under the direction of the Jesuits. Herealso he remained only a short time, partly because ofwhat he regarded as an act of injustice in his teachers,and partly because they proceeded so slowly with theirinstructions. For a time he studied without aid, butwith intense ardour, often sitting over his book thewhole night. Very properly his mother tried to checkthis excess of zeal, but otherwise he seems to have beenleft by his parents to pursue his own course. Hisprivate study of logic led him to attend the lectures ofa Jesuit teacher, Antonio del Balzo, whom he describesas a nominalist. At the same time he read the ' Sum-mulas' of Petrus Hispanus and of Paulus Venetus.Works more fitted by their perverse subtilty, theirartificiality, their errors and absurdities, to perplex anddiscourage an ingenuous and aspiring youthful mind,


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His Studies. 19coiild hardly have been selected out of the productionsof scholasticism.^ Yico's strenuous attempt to masterthem was imsuccessful, and, baffled and dispirited, heabandoned study for about eighteen months. Then histrue self came back to him again. The famous Academydegli Infuriati, after having for a considerable time ceasedto meet, was resuscitated, and there was a public celebra-tion in honour of the event. Young Vico was present,and the effect on him, to use his own simile, was likewhat the sound of a trumpet might be expected to haveon a spirited steed, w^hich, after having been got readyfor the battle, had been let loose to pasture in the fields.He returned to the study of philosophy wdth greaterzeal than ever, choosing for teacher Father Eicci, aJesuit, and a disciple of Dims Scotus. Eicci he praisesas a man of very acute intellect, and Duns Scotus hestrangely credits with being the scholastic whose philos-ophy was most akin to that of Plato. He especiallynotes that the teaching of Eicci helped him to recognisethe truth and importance of Zeno's doctrine of indi-visible pointsa doctrine which had been altogethermisunderstood by Aristotle. This statement shows thatYico not only fell into the error, prevalent among hiscontemporaries, of supposing that the founder of Stoicismhad taught that the materia imma was composed ofmathematical points, but actually confounded Zeno ofCittium with Zeno of Elea, and could not even haveread what Aristotle had written concerning the latter.One is sorry to have to record such amazing blunders.

1 Regarding the writings of Petrus Hispaniis and Paiilus Venetuson logic, see Prantl's ' Gescliiclite der Logik/ vol. iii. pp. 33-74, andvol. iv. pp. 118-140.


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20 Vico.It was not long before Yico thought he might profitablydispense with Eicci's prelections, and accordingly heagain betook himself to solitary study. The 'Meta-pliysical Disputations' of Suarez having been recom-mended to him, he found them extremely interesting,owing to what he regarded as their merits of style, andfor a whole year he made the study of them his chiefbusiness. He must thereby have greatly increased hisknowledge of the scholastic system of philosophy ; but,so far as I can perceive, no traces of the distinctivedoctrines of Suarez are to be found in his writings. Henot only never appeals to the great Jesuit metaphysicianas an authority, but never even refers to his opinions.

Fortunately our young philosopher's eager, ardentmind had its attention drawn away for a time frommetaphysics. A casual visit to a class in the universityawakened his interest in the science of law. He at-tended for a short time the lectures of a Professor Verde,but finding in them no help to an understanding of theprinciples of law, he speedily shut himself up, as washis wont, to solitary reading and meditation, with theCommentary of Yulteius on the ' Institutes ' and the ' In-stitutiones Canonic?e ' of Canisius as his text-books. Hewas never long satisfied with any teacher, and althoughhe had many teachers, was almost self-taught. Thestudy of law for a man who brings to it, as Yico did,a large mind and the right spirit, is one of the grandestpossible. Jurisprudence is in intimate connection withtheology, ethics, politics, history, and philology. Itreceives light from, and sheds light on, all generalphilosophy, and almost every special science. Theknowledge of Roman law implies a knowledge of the


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22 Vico.prudence, led to liis being asked to give instruction inthe science to the bishop's nephews, the sons of DonDomenico Eocca, Marquis of Yatolla. The offer waswisely accepted, and Vico spent the next nine years inquiet and studious retirement at the castle of Yatolla.

These nine years may safely be affirmed to havebeen the happiest of his life. He was treated byDon Domenico Eocca with paternal kindness. Thecastle of Yatolla was situated in a healthy and pleasantdistrict of Cilentum : above was a bright uncloudedsky ; around were woods fair to the eye and favourableto meditation ; and within were peace and comfort, anextensive library, and ample leisure for study. Li sucha retreat the mind of Yico could hardly fail to developitself vigorously, and in accordance with its own truegenius. There was nothing to prevent natural growthor to stimulate to hasty and immature production.Everything was favourable to originality and genuineself-culture.

Yico faithfully improved the precious nine years(1685-1694) of his stay at Yatolla. He read leisurelyall the best authors of classical antiquity and of Italy,and extended and deepened his knowledge of ancientphilosophy, ancient history, ethics, jurisprudence, andpoetry. He perused alternately a Latin and an Italianclassic Cicero, for example, being followed by Boc-caccio, Yirgil by Dante, and Horace by Eetrarch. Hewent thrice through the works which interested himmostthe first time striving to comprehend them as awhole, the second to follow closely the sequence ofideas and of arguments, and the third to impress onhis mind particular passages nobly conceived or admir-


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His Studies. 23ably expressed One general conclusion to which hewas thus led was a conviction that the Latin languagewas essentially superior to the Italian, and that thecontemporary vernacular poetry by which he had beenhitherto so greatly charmed was of a degenerate andmeretricious kind.He devoted much of his attention to tracing religious

and civil institutions to their sources. He combinedthe study of history with that of language. In con-nection with canon law he applied himself to theology,and especially sought to understand the controversy onthe relation of grace to free-will, taking as a guide thecelebrated work ' De heresi Janseniana,' written by theJesuit divine, Stephen de Champs, under the pseudonymof Antonius Eicardus. In connection with Eoman lawhe examined the ethical writings of Plato, Aristotle, andCicero, and marked how jurisprudence was the applica-tion of moral principles. The ethics both of the Epi-cureans and Stoics seemed to him manifestly mostdefective ima morale di solitarii, aiming merely toregulate the conduct of the individual, and ignoringthe fact that the collective life of mankind is subject.to a comprehensive and immutable law.

The chief systems of general philosophy were alsopassed by him in review. Platonism he contemplatedwith admiration as proceeding from the sublime andprimary truth that the universe and its contents arethe emanations of a supreme metaphysical principle, aneternal formative idea. Aristotelianism he judged un-favourably, on the ground that it taught that the Creatorand the creature differed in substance, and that thingshad been formed by the Divine Being out of a physical


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24 Vico.basis, as vessels of various kinds are fashioned by apotter out of clay. His Platonism, it must howeverbe remembered, was not that of Plato but of MarsilioFicino, and his Aristotelianism not that of Aristotlebut of Suarez. Epicureanism, which had been resusci-tated by Gassendi, he studied in the poem of Lucretius,and came to the conclusion that while its physics hadsome good features, its metaphysical assumptions, itsexplanations of mental processes, and its moral doctrinewere despicable. He also began a critical examinationof Cartesianism, seeking initiation through the ' Funda-menta Physicae ' of Regius.-^ Prom the first the Cartesiansystem seemed to him a seriously erroneous and danger-ous one.Although Yico expended a considerable amount ofthought on the physics of the Pythagoreans and Plato,Aristotle and Epicm'us, Descartes and others, he seemsto have made no attempt to study physical science pro-perly understood. The physics which was not largelymixed with metaphysics had no attractions for him.He lets us know that he had heard of the experimentalphysics of Eobert Boyle, but he adds that, "althoughhe thought it might have useful applications to medicine,he had taken care not to occupy himself with a sciencewhich could contribute nothing to the philosophy ofman, and the language of which was so barbarous." Formathematics he had no aptitude. He got the length of

1 He erroneously supposed this work to have been written "byDescartes himself, although Descartes, soon after its publication,had formally disavowed it, as "copying his views badly, changinj?their order, and denying certain metaphysical truths on which allphysics ought to be based." See preface to the 'Principles ofPhilosophy.'


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His Studies. 25the pons asinorum in Euclid, and looked at it, but didnot find that he could make his way across. He ascribesthe failure to his " invincible disposition to refer geomet-rical facts to metaphysical genera or general laws, insteadof studying them in their individuality." At the sametime, not unnaturally perhaps, although far from justly,he passes a very unfavourable judgment on mathematicsas a mental discipline. It suits, he maintains, onlysmall minds, and the algebraic department of it is nat-urally injurious to almost every intellectual faculty.Geometry he allows to be appropriate instruction forchildren, on the ground that it is a kind of delineation,che in un certo rnodo e una inttura.From Yatolla he returned to Xaples. which he never

again quitted.


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2e

CHAPTEE III.LATER LIFE (1694-1744) VICO AS TEACHER AND

AUTHOR.

Yico found that, during liis absence from Xaples, therehad passed over it a change which he could only deplore.He has himself specified the following as its leadingfeatures. Literary taste had greatly declined. TheGreek and Latin classics were falling into neglectpeople were becoming content to read them only intranslations, and even writers of the highest reputationno longer sought to inspire themselves with their spiritand to rival their excellences. The vernacular poetswere following in the footsteps, not of Dante or Petrarch,but of .Delia Casa. The philosophy, at once so sublimeand so practical, which Picino, Pico della Mirandola,the Piccolomini, Patrizi, and many others, had taughtduring the sixteenth century, thereby resuscitating, asit were, Greece in the midst of Italy, was now relegatedto the obscurity of some cloisters. Cartesianism haddecidedly gained the ascendancy. Consequently, thestudy of languages and of history, literary elaboration,and learned research were despised; mathematics andphysics were the only popular sciences; instruction in


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^8 Vico.of his manhood and old age were spent in a long strug-gle with poverty and misfortune. He was only ableat times to obtain a scanty liveliliood by writing atcommand nuptial odes, funeral elegies, inscriptions fortombs and churches, orations for public occasions, eulo-gies of great personages, &c. ; and he was sometimessorely tempted to abandon altogether even for suchfrivolous and degrading work the search after a scienceof humanity in which no one seemed to take the slight-est interest. The condition of literary men now iseverywhere very different from what it then was inNaples. Many of them, it is true, still require toearn their daily bread by writing what will please acapitalist, or a political party, or an ecclesiastical sect,and their lot is, of course, among the least enviablein any respect, and morally most dangerous, which canfall to human beings. A man like Vico, however,would certamly in the present day have had a choicebetween the literary work in which he could be freeand that in which he could not; Avhereas in his ownday the only choice for him Avas between servile literarywork and starvation.Two poemsthe one dedicated to the Marquis of

Vatolla, and the other to the Prince of Feroletowerethe first writings which he published. They wereprinted at Venice in 1693, and were followed by threecanzoni in praise of Maximilian Emanuel, Duke ofEavaria, which were printed at ^N'aples in 1694. Poemsof a similar character, addressed to great personages, andladen with adulations, appeared from his pen at vary^ing intervals during the rest of his life. They werealmost all obviously written mainly with a view to a


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Teacher and Author. 29honorarium, and cannot be read without sorrow that aman of the genius of Yico should have been under thehumiliating necessity of belauding and flattering hismore fortunate fellow - mortals. His earliest extantj)rose compositions are the two Latin orations,'Proauspicatissimo in Hispaniam reditu Francisci Benavidiiin Eegno ^N'eapolitano pro rege' (1696), and 'In funereCatharinse Aragoniae' (1697). For work of this kindhe was henceforth frequently called upon, being uni-versally acknowledged to be an accomplished Latinrhetorician. He was rather proud of his Latin prose,and about this time he decided on abandoning thefurther study both of Greek and Italian, in order tobe able to devote himself more thoroughly to themastery of Latin, having come to the conclusion thatthose who cultivate several languages will never speakor write any one of them with purity and elegance.But for this unwise resolution his Latin would pro-bably have been almost as good as it is, while theItalian of the 'Scienza Nuova' might have been farbetter than it is.

After having failed to obtain a town-clerkship, ourphilosopher was in 1697 appointed Professor of Ehe-toric in the university of K"aples. The salary of theoffice was merely one hundred sciicU (crowns), yet onso small a fixed income as this he ventured to marrytwo years later a iS^eapolitan maiden called Teresa Destito,of whom we know only that she was the daughter ofPeter Destito, a notary, and of his wife Antonia delloGiudice ; was nineteen years of age at the date of hermarriage ; could not sign her name to the nuptial con-tract ; had no portion ; and became the mother of


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30 Vico.several children. At the opening of the university inthe years 1699, 1700, 1701, 1704, 1705, 1707, and1708, he delivered introductory lectures which all hadreference to one great theme,knowledge, its advan-tages, its ends, and the order and method of acquiringit. The discourse of 1708 he published under the title*De nostri temporis studiormn ratione'; of the othersthere is a brief account in his Autobiography, and theyhave recently been discovered and printed. The phil-osophy of Yico appears in these lectures at an earlystage in the process of its formation and in its mostrudimentary known condition. Ideas which continuallyrecur in his subsequent writings, and which are to befound in their matiure form in the ' Scienza Xuova,' mayhere be examined in the germ. Although these lectiu:es,however, throw very considerable light on their author'sintellectual aims, and on the principles which deter-mined the whole course of his speculations, they neednot be dwelt on at present, as they have afterwards tobe discussed.

After the failure of the formidable conspiracy plannedin the interest of Austria by the Prince of Macchia andother Neapolitan nobles, Vico wrote a history of themovement in which the conduct of its leaders wasexhibited in a strongly unfavourable light; but whenin 1708 Austria had triumphed, and he was commis-sioned by Count Daun, the Austrian vicero}^, to com-pose epitaphs glorifying as martyrs and heroes JosephCapece and Charles di Sangro, two of the very menwhom he had in his 'De Parthenopea Conjurationedescribed as rebels and traitors, he obeyed withoutquestion or complaint.


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Early Philosophical Wo7'ks, 31In the ' De ratione studiorum ' tlie influence of Lord

Bacon's ' De augmentis scientiaruni ' is very apparent.At the date of writing it he had been for some timeacquainted with Bacon's writings, and had conceivedfor them high admiration. Their author lie pronounces" an incomparable man." Bacon as powerfully attractedas Descartes repelled him. His next philosophical work,which was published in 1710, and entitled 'On thePrimitive Wisdom of the Italians' ('De antiquissimaItalorum sapientia'), was suggested partly by the' Cratylus ' of Plato and partly by the ' Wisdom of theAncients' ('De sapientia veterum') of Bacon, althoughhe regarded the latter as one of the least satisfactoryof the great English philosopher's productions. Itsdesign was to elicit and exhibit through the analysisof Latin words the principles of a system of metaphysi-cal truth supposed to embody the wisdom of Ionic andEtruscan sages. It certainly cannot be deemed a suc-cessful attempt, although not Avithout scattered lumin-ous thoughts. As a further accoimt of it will be givenhereafter, it may suffice at present simply to quote DrBotta's brief statement of its fundamental doctrine." Knowledge consists essentially m a relation of caus-ality between the knowing principle and the know-able, since the mind can only know that which it canproduce through its own activity,that is to say, themind can only know those data of experience which itcan convert into truth by a process of reason. Thisconversion, m which, according to Vico, lies the prin-ciple of aU science, neither the psychological method,nor the geometrical process introduced by Descartes,can effect; it can only be produced by a method in


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3-2 Vico.

which certainty and truth, authority and reason, phil-ology and philosophy, become united and harmonised,so as to embrace the necessary principles of nature aswell as the contingent productions of human activity.To establish a fact which may be converted into truth,to find a principle which has its basis in experienceand common-sense, yet is in harmony with the eternalorder of the universe, is the problem of metaphysics.This fact or this principle, according to Vico, is to befound in God alone, the only true 'Ens,' who, beingan infinite cause, contains in Himself all facts and allintelligence." ^ The above-mentioned treatise was veryshortly after its appearance criticised with considerableacuteness in a periodical published at Venice, the'Giornale dei Letterati d'ltalia.' Vico replied; thecritic maintained the accuracy of his charges; and ananswer to what was said in their defence was returned.These pieces, as the controversy turned on cardinalpoints, are an important appendix to the work.

Its author was next occupied in the composition ofa panegyrical life of Antony Caraffa, a ISTeapolitan ofnoble birth, who, having entered the service of Austria,had acquired great reputation both as a soldier and astatesman, but who had also shown himself to be anunscrupulous and cruel man, and had, in particular,by the massacres continued through nine long months,and known in the annals of Hungary as the Butcheriesof Eperies, doomed his own memory to an immortalityof dishonour. Vico was hired to \^Tite this man's lifeby Adrian Caraff'a, the marshal's nephew, and he devotedhis nights for two years to the task. The labour was

1 Ueberweg's 'History of Philosophy ' (Engl, tr.), vol. ii. p. 474.


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Study of Grotius. 33ignoble, but it gained the poor philosopher a thousandducats, and secured a home for one of his daughters.Besides, although the 'De rebus gestis A. Caraphcei'has no claim to be considered impartial, it bears notraces of positive falsification, is orderly in arrange-ment, perspicuous in style, rich in contents, and drawnfrom original sources. It gained Vico the friendshipof Gravina. Pope Clement XL, an excellent judge ofliterary merit, pronounced it "an immortal history."

In the prejDaration of his biography of Caraffa, Yicofound it necessary to read the treatise of Grotius ' Onthe Law of War and Peace.' This led him to thediscovery of what he had been long seeking. It wasthe occasion of giving unity and system to all the chiefthoughts of his life. Hitherto he had adopted as hismasters only Plato, Tacitus, and Bacon : Plato, becausehe taught what man is in his eternal essence ; Tacitus,because he showed men under the conditions of experi-ence ; and Bacon, because he had the sense of the unityof the sciences, criticised justly the faults committed bythinkers in the past, indicated happily the tasks to beaccomplished by them in the future, and combinedtheory with practice. To these he now added Grotius,as having brought universal law, philosophy, and the-ology into a harmonious system founded on the studyof history and of language, and as having thereby sug-gested a synthesis still more comprehensive. In hisadmiration for Grotius he undertook to write notes to anew edition of his treatise ; but after he had made con-siderable progress in the accomplishment of the task,he reflected that it was not becoming in a Catholic to

p.IX. C


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His Magnum Opus. 35before, and in 1725 he published the first edition of thework on which his fame must always mainly rest,' Principj di una Scienza IN'uova d'intorno aUa comunenatura delle nazioni.' The title is an admirable one,bold but not over-bold, perspicuous and precise. Asa philosophy of law, however broadly conceived, thethought of Vico could not do itself justice. Law was amere phase of its appropriate and adequate object, whichwas no other than the common nature of nations, inwhich all knowledge, science, art, religion, morality,political and jimdical systems, are originated and de-veloped. This object Yico's mind had now firmly andfully grasped. Xow his whole heart might cry Eiu-eka.Xow he was confident that posterity would do him thatjustice which his contemporaries refused. " Since I com-pleted my great work," were his words in 1726, "I feelthat I have become a new man. I am no longer temptedto declaim against the bad taste of the age, because indenying me the place which I sought, it has given metime to compose my 'Scienza Xuova.' Shall I say it?I perhaps deceive myself, although most unwilling to doso ; the composition of that work has animated me witha heroic spirit, which places me above the fear of deathand the calumnies of my rivals, I feel that I am seatedupon a rock of adamant, when I think of that law ofGod which does justice to genius by the esteem of thewise."The rest of Yico's life, so long as he was able to

labour, was in great part devoted to the further elabora-tion of his magnum opus, the noblest product of hismind. A second edition, greatly altered in matterexpression, and arrangement, appeared in 1730. This


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36 V'ico.

may almost be regarded as a different work. It is the' Seconda Scienza jSTuova/ from which the earlier editionis distinguished as the ' Prima Scienza Xiiova.' In the* Prima Scienza ' the procedure is, in the main, analyticand inductive, and the establishment of principles ischiefly aimed at. In the ' Seconda Scienza ' the methodfollowed is, on the whole, synthetic and constructive,principles are largely assumed, and a2:)plications abound.A third edition appeared shortly before the author'sdeath, at a time when he was incapable of intellectualexertion. Into this edition the additional matter whichhe had prepared was roughly inserted, not skilfullyinwrought, and did more to disfigure than to enrich it.Among his smaller compositions subsequent to the firstedition of the ' Scienza IS'uova,' an oration ' De Menteheroica,' and a brief estimate of Dante, are the mostinteresting.

The latter years of Yico were darkened by heavydomestic afllictions. One of his daughters suffered froma grievous malady. One of his sons led a wicked life,and required to be confined in prison. The old manhad, however, much consolation in two of his family.An amiable and cultured daughter, who acquired somereputation as a poetess, was especially dear to him ; andhis son Gennaro, who succeeded him in the Chair ofRhetoric, if not remarkable for talent, was exemplary,scholarly, and full of reverence for his father.With the accession of the Bourbons to the throne of

Xaples Yico's worldly circumstances were improved.Charles III. appointed him to the office of historiog-rapher. By this time, however, his mental powerswere quite broken down. Last and worst of all his


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Death. 37troubles came cancer in the throat and face, slowlyaccomplishing its dreadful work. His worn and weariedmind still retained sufficient sensibility to feel the painand bitterness of its lot, and gradually sank into pro-found melancholy. Speech became almost impossible.The darkness deepened, and for fourteen months beforehis death he seemed hardly able to recognise even hisown children. One day he appeared to waken up asout of a heavy sleejD. He noticed those around himhe looked on them with an aspect of joy ; he addressedto them tender words. It was but a short awakeningbefore the long sleep. He expired, faintly endeavouringto sing one of the psalms of David, on the 20th ofJanuary 1744. Misfortune, he had said, would followhim to the gi'ave ; and the word was fulfilled. In thehouse of deathin the assembly met to convey his bodyto the tomba scandalous dispute arose between themembers of the brotherhood of St Sophia, to which hehad belonged, and the professors of the university, asto whose right it was to carry the bier. So hot andobstinate was the contention, that it ended in the with-drawal of both parties ; and it was only on the followingday that the remains of one of Italy's greatest thinkerscould be deposited in their last resting-place.


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38

CHAPTEE IV.GENERAL ESTIMATE OF VICO's CHARACTER AXD WORK.

The chief incidents in Vice's life have now been indi-cated, but it still remains to attempt a brief delineationof his mind and character. It will have been observedthat his education was of a very strange kind. It pro-ceeded quite without law or method. The sole principleof it seems to have been the will of the student. Viconot only passed through no university curriculum, buthe passed through no regular school course. He wentfor a short time at various periods to classes and lectures,but he was never long before he convinced himself thathe could do better without them, and when he arrivedat the conclusion he acted upon it. He knew nothingof codes or curricula^nothing of " coaching" or "cram-ming " or " grinding " for examinations ; he had noparent or guardian imposing tasks, and seeing that theywere carefully performed. He was, to an extent whichfew men have ever been, what his Cartesian friendCaloprese used to call him, avroSiSda-KaXo?. He appliedhimself to ancient philosophy, Eoman jurisprudence,canon law, scholastic theology, metaphysics, mathematics,history, poetry, to this book or that, to this question or


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40 Vico.previously reached; who does not so much pass fromone piece of work to another, as from the expression orexposition of one stage of his own hfe to that of another.It was an essentially self-developing, seK-forming genius,which steadily laboured, from internal, inborn impulse,to reduce everything that came within its range ofapprehension to unity and harmony and conformity withits own ideals.

Its range was not universal. Yico was no Aristotle orLeibniz. He was but a sorry mathematician. Heobviously knew very little about any department ofphysical science. He was not a great metaphysician.His strength lay in those departments of knowledgewhich relate to the workings of the mind and to themoral and political relationships and history of man.It is in connection with comparative and appliedpsychology, with philology, with mythology, with juris-prudence, with literary history, and with the philosophyof history, that his name Avill be remembered; but inthis connection his comprehensiveness and his profunditywere alike admirable. Over the whole of this vastterritory, although many of its provinces were almostunknown in his time, his mind had ranged, inquired,and theorised in such a way that many of the conclu-sions at which he arrived have been found in a multi-tude of cases to have been most wonderful anticipationsof theories which have been established, or which havebeen rendered popular, only within the present century.The intellect of Yico was far from being in all respects

trustworthy. Its great qualities were accompanied bycorresponding defects which w^ere allowed to remainuncorrected. From the first there ^Yas not a little of


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Intellectual Character. 41arbitrariness iii its constitution, and that increased astime advanced. Kot even the most studious youtlifulgenius can be safely left to the entire freedom of hisow^i will. Strict and judicious educational disciplinemight have done our philosopher much good. Henever acquired the power of keeping his imaginationin due restraint ; of distinguishing clearly between thepossible, probable, and certain ; of knowing when aproposition was sufficiently proved, and when not; ofordering his thoughts and arranging his proofs in adistinct and appropriate manner. He was easily misledby false analogies. He was ingenious in devising per-verse interpretations. He abounds in futile as wellas in fruitful conjectures. His erudition was large,owing to his industryrare, owing to his originalityand completely at his command, because wholly acquiredby his own independent exertions ; but it was also oftenmost inaccurate and illusory. He could devise hiscelebrated solution of the problem of the Homericpoems, and yet fall into blunders like the one alreadyspecified regarding Zeno and Aristotle on indivisiblepoints. He had read not only widely but with strenu-ous application, and yet his references to the opinionsof others are very unreliable, owing to his inabihty todistinguish in recollection what he had received fromwhat it had suggested.But notwithstanding these defects, his intellect wasof a very high order. It was characterised by a keensense of the unity of knowledge, of the relatedness ofthings, of the presence of law and system throughoutthe universe. It was constitutionally philosophical asdistinguished from merely scientific, and was therefore


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Moral Character. 47that he habitually regarded his afflictions as parts of awise and benevolent disciplme. He gloried in being aChristian and a Catholic. When his theological specu-lations were least in harmony with the teaching of thedoctors of his Church, it was far from his intention tochallenge or alter the common faith. He has recordedthe pride he felt because the JSTew Science had origmatedin Roman Catholic Italy, and not in Protestant England,Germany, or Holland.^

In the domestic relationships of life our philosopherseems to have been most exemplary ; a good husband,on whom much more than his fair share of householdanxieties was devolved; an affectionate father, whoentered into the amusements of his children, devotedmuch time to their education, and felt keenly both thegood and the evil which befell them.- In his generalintercourse with men he appears to have been timid andreserved. He had clearly not the power of commandingworldly success or of conducting practical affairs. Henever attempted to take any independent part in publicor political life. Want of worldly enterprise and tactwas no doubt to a considerable extent the cause of hispassing through life poor and neglected, although hisoriginality as a thinker must be allowed to have beenalso a reason why his reputation among his contem-poraries was far from corresponding to his merits.He was naturally disposed to melancholy, and would,

perhaps, not have been a very happy man even if pros-perity had been allotted him. As misfortune was al-

1 Opere, vol. iv. p. 392.- The evidence is that supplied by the Marquis Villarosa. See

Appendix to the "Vita," Opere, vol. iv. pp. 416-420.


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48 Vico.most his constant companion, it is not wonderful thathe was often deeply despondent. The high value heset upon his own doctrines, and his lively susceptibilityto the favourable opinion of others, made neglect somuch the more painful to him. His letters and Auto-biography show that he felt keenly the want of intelli-gent appreciation sho^wn. towards his more important-writings. In the very care with which he has recordedthe comiDliments of persons of distinction on the lightestproducts of his pen, we have an indication of the disap-pointment he must have experienced at the indifferencewith which his greatest works were reigarded. He wasby no means a naturally self-sufficing man, needing anddesiring no approbation beyond that of his o^vn reasonand conscience. The love of applause and of fame wereexceptionally strong in him. In this respect his spiritwas far more Greek and Eoman than Christian. In hispublic addresses to the students of the university ofIS^aples his chief appeal is throughout to the desire ofglory attainable by high excellence. " Contempta fama,contemnuntur virtutes," might have been their generaltext.He himself dispensed praise with much too lavish

hands. It was the fashion among the literary men ofItaly in his day to address persons of rank in obsequiouslanguage, and to flatter one another in extravagant terms.Yew erred more in this way than Vico. The most ephem-eral celebrities were eulogised in his pages as if the worldhad seldom or never known their equals. We mustnot judge this by the standard of the present day. Wemust give due weight to all mitigating circumstances.We must remember that he followed a prevalent custom;


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A Fault. 49that being not only lowly born, poor, and dependent,but simple-minded and imaginative, he viewed high dig-nitaries through an atmosphere of illusion and romancethat he was very sensible to kindly appreciation, andcould only repay it out of his resources as poet andrhetorician ; that his laudations were open and ingenu-ous, without the slightest trace of guile, &c. Yet onecannot but wish that no excuses had been needed, whileall excuses which can be offered must fail to do awaywith the painful impression produced by the contem-plation of genius demeaning itself. No one could havebeen better aware than Vico that the petty celebritieswhom he praised were neither intellectual giants normoral heroes; that his age was not a splendid but adegenerate one; that he was not a lesser but a verymuch greater man than those before whom he humbledhimself.

p.IX.


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50

CHAPTEE V.ACADEMIC ORATIONS GENERAL PHILOSOPHICAL AIMS.

The development of thought which took place in themind of Yico and produced " the jSTew Science " can betraced throughout its whole course. Once begun, it wenton Avithout interruption, until it was as complete as itcould be expected to become in a single intellect. Thetemptation to distribute it into periods according to asymmetrical plan has proved too strong for some Italianauthors, and has led them to attempt to force on it arbi-trary and artificial formulae of division. In reality, itwas a continuous process of enlargement and enrichment,and in order to follow it, aU that is needed is to studyVico's works in their chronological order, and in relationto the circumstances in which they were produced.The initial traces of his philosophy are to be found in

the introductory Academic Orations delivered between1699 and 1708. These discourses contain some excel-lent thoughts excellently expressed. They are alwayselevated in tone, and everywhere warmed by the breathof a vigorous vitality. Their main interest, however, ishistorical. Had they been lost, Yico's fame would nothave been less bright, nor his work less complete. Eut


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The Divine in Man. 53the soul itself. The relationship of the soul to thebody is eloquently set forth as similar to, and oidyexplicable by, the relationship of God to nature. A^icoheld at a later date that the heart is the seat of thesoul, in opposition to Descartes, who located it in thepineal gland. When the discourse at present underconsideration was written, he believed the mind tobe present and active in every part and organ of thebody, and not confined to any particular spot in thehuman frame {iiec in idla corporis jjarte liahet jinitumlarerii). There follows a description of the divine pro-perties. Then comes an exposition of how the mind,when it turns its attention upon itself, gradually ascendsto the knowledge of God. The course by which it isrepresented as passing from doubt to certainty, from thesense of its o^vtl imperfection to the assurance of theexistence of a perfect Being, is substantially that whichDescartes had so much more elaborately traced. Theprocess by which the knowledge of God is thus reachedmay be, according to Yico, an unconscious one. Theacquisition of knowledge is, he holds, even when mostrapid, largely unconscious. It is interesting to see himthus early recognise the importance of spontaneous andunreflective thought. The affirmation that human worksmay be also divine gifts should likewise be noted, be-cause it, too, reappears as a fundamental principle of" the New Science." A^ico, in order to raise his hearers'conceptions of the grandeur of their own nature, pro-ceeds to remind them that the gods worshipped as man'sbenefactors have been personifications of the powers anddispositions of humanity itself. He brings the orationto a close by insisting that knowledge of all kinds is


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54 Vico.natural to the mind, while ignorance is as unnatural toit as smoke is to the eyes ; and by urging the proprietyof an earnest pursuit of science.The second orationwhich has for text the aphorism

that " no enemy is more hurtful to an enemy than thefoolish man is to himself "is an exhortation to conformthe soul to virtue and wisdom. The principle that Godhas given special laws to every order of His creatureshaving been laid down, is forthwith applied to man as abeing composed of a mortal body and an immortal soul,and designed to prefer truth to falsehood, virtue to vice,reason to passion, the higher to the lower. Then comesa vigorously delineated account of the internal war whicharises in the mind of the foolish man who, from perver-sity, negligence, or levity, violates the true constitution ofhis nature. Yico himself, in his Autobiography, notesthese parts of the discourse as anticipations of the doctrinein his ' De universi juris uno principio et fine uno.' Theworld is next viewed as the city of God, because per-vaded and ruled by His reason; and wisdom as that whichconfers on man citizenship therein, seeing that wisdomis the apprehension and reception of divine reason bythe human intellect. The life of the reason of man isin the reason of God, and truth for man lies in the unionand harmony of these two reasons. Inasmuch as Godby reason originates things, so by reason the wiseman kn-ows them. Here may perhajjs be, as Galassosupposes, the first vague conception of the celebrateddoctrine regarding the conversion of truth and fact whichwas afterwards expounded in the ' De antiquissima Ital-orum sapientia.' Truth is viewed as an accordance andcommunion of the divine and human intellects by which


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56 Vico.what they believe themselves to know ; and exhortsthose who would devote themselves to the pursuit oftruth to live sincerely and ingenuously, and really to bewhat they desire to seem to be.

The aim of the fourth oration is to show that scienceshould not be cultivated with any selfish view, but froma desire to promote the common welfare. He who wouldpursue knowledge aright must, Yico maintains, bear con-stantly in mind " the amplitude of its end "its essen-tial and universal utilityand seek to assimilate himselfto God, whose nature it is to do good to all With thisoration the fifth is closely connected. It has the interestof being Vico's earliest known attempt at historical gen-eralisation. Its design is to prove that the nations andepochs in which science and literature have flourishedhave been also those famous in war. In the selectionof examples intended to establish this thesis a few his-torical mistakes appear ; but the relationship of arms toletters is suggestively, although briefly, treated ; and thecontrast in character and tendencies between barbarousand civilised warthe war of blind passion and bruteforce and the war which is guided and controlled byintelligence and justiceis strongly markedThe thought which pervades the first oration reappears

in the sixth, but in a considerably more definite form,so as to show the progress which had been made between1699 and 1707. Self-knowledge is represented in thissixth discourse as determining the aim and order of thewhole system of human studies. Let a man acquainthimself with his condition as a fallen being, and he willfind that harmony Avithin himself and communion withhis fellows are broken and prevented by the unperfec-


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58 Vico.Avith its own imperfections which is indispensable tothe profitable study of morals. Pagan or natural ethicsmust come in the course of inquiry to be recognised asinadequate, and recourse will then naturally be taken tothe divine revelations with which Christian theology isconversant, and on which alone a completely satisfactorymoral system can be founded. AMien these variousdisciplines have had their due influence upon the mind,the time has arrived for its initiation into the science ofChristian jurisprudence.

Yico himself refers us to the orations which havebeen passed in review, and especially to the last, asshowing that the idea of a vast and original systemuniting in a single principle all sciences affected hisspeculations from a very early period. The evidencewhich they afford of this must be admitted to be suffi-cient. But the oration delivered in 1708, and publishedin a somewhat enlarged form soon after its deliverythe ' De nostri temporis studiorum ratione 'marks adecided advance in the direction which they opened up.It is more elaborate and of greater intrinsic importance.In it the originality of Yico is seen to have becomeconscious of itself and capable of expressing itself. Init he appears as a man confident that he has gained anintellectual position from which he can survey and esti-mate aright the whole world of past and contemporarythought. It is his declaration that he is neither anancient nor a modern, but feels himself competent topronounce as a judge on all the mental aims and laboursboth of antiquity and modern times. The attitudewhich he assumes in it towards ancient and modernresearchtowards classical, scholastic, and later philo-


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Methods of Study. 59sophyis one of independence and superiority. Itimplies belief in having grasped a higher synthesis thanany which had been previously attained. The discourseis of great autobiographical interest, for it is indirectlya delineation of its author's intellectual condition at thetime when he felt as if he had just touched the top ofthe Pisgah from which he could descry the whole landof truth. It also, as we shall afterwards perceive, leadsup and links on both to the work on metaphysics andto the works on jurisprudence which Yico subsequentlypublished.The aim of the discourse is to compare the ancient

and modern methods of study. Its author wished it tobe regarded as a supplement to Lord Bacon's " goldenbook," ' De Augmentis Scientiarum.' It begins by anindication of various respects in which the moderns havesurpassed the ancients. The latter were ignorant of thenew criticism, of the application of analysis to geometryand of mathematics to physics, of chemical experimenta-tion, of the telescope, microscope, and magnetic needlethey were greatly deficient as regards geographical andastronomical knowledge, unacquainted with printing,and destitute of any schools like universities. Xextthe question is raised. Are not the advantages of themoderns accompanied by dangers and inconvenienceswhich require to be noted and guarded against ? Yicoanswers in the affirmative, and proceeds to inquire whatthese dangers and inconveniences are.The new criticism is first examined. This criticismwhich claims to be the universal instrument of science

and artis only to be satisfied with pure truth andabsolute certainty. It rejects not only what is plainly


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60 Vico.false, but all that is merely probable. It will allow usto believe nothing which we can doubt without manifestabsurdity. Vico pronounces it a grave error to takethis new criticism as the rule of education. He main-tains that the power of apprehending and weighing pro-babilities is of greater importance, and should be earliercultivated, than that of observing pure and indubitabletruths or of deriving from them rigidly necessary deduc-tions. It is the former power which constitutes thecommon-sense which is the chief source of mental lifeand the true guide of practice. Early initiation into thecritical method, he argues, leaves unemployed the facul-ties which are most active in well-constituted youthfulnatures, disqualifies for the apprehension of truth ingeneral, unfits for ordinary business, and deadens ordestroys a genius for poetry, oratory, or jurisprudence.He commends the ancients for generally using geometryas the logic by which immature minds were to behabituated to the exercise of reason.

His next position is that the art of proof or verifica-tion (Critica) should not be cultivated, as it was by hiscontemporaries, to the exclusion of the art of discoveryor invention (Topica). The latter ought to have theprecedence. Things must be apprehended before theycan be tested. Eeasons must be found before their Avorthcan be determined. Young persons need, in the first.place, to have their minds stored with facts drawn fromall sorts of sciences and arts, and their faculties variouslyemployed on suitable objects and in appropriate exer-cises. Only after they have made some progress in.learning should they be required rigidly to prove andverify what they have learned, supposing it can be so


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Ideal of FMloso^liy. 65time which found their clearest expression in Cartesian-ism princijDles necessarily leading to such exaggerations,and dislike and dread of them were among the mostpotent of the motives which impelled him to search fora catholic and comprehensive philosophy, and for a newscience which might be corrective of views so narrowand hurtful.To understand the philosophy of Vico, it is essential

to bear in mind that its object was not merely the at-tainment of scientific truth. It was a great deal morethan a general theory of science. Philosophy in thewidest sense in which he used the termthe sensewhich it bears in the Orationsis the love of wisdom.And wisdom, while inclusive of science, is far moreextensive, being the jDerfection and satisfaction of theentire nature of man. The wise man must be enlight-ened by truth; possessed of a strong memory and arefined imagination; able in practical affairs, and elo-quent in speech ; an admirer of poetry and painting, andversed in jurisprudence; independent and critical in judg-ment, yet not disregarding authority nor undervaluingprobability ; a believer in revelation, and obedient to theChristian rule of life. This is the ideal which philoso-phy, according to the Orations, ought to keep steadilyin view. It was not, however, until the publication ofthe writings on jurisprudence that the doctrine concern-ing wisdom assumed definiteness and articulateness.Only in the New Science did it appear fully developed.

That he thus conceived of philosophy was obviouslydue, to a considerable extent, to what may almost beregarded as professional bias. In other words, the twostudies with which he was most occupiedrhetoric andp.IX. E


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68 Vico.The ideal disclosed in the Orations he obviously

deemed to have been, on the whole, better apprehendedand better realised by the Greeks and Romans than byhis own contemporaries. A Greek philosopher, who was" a -university in himself," or a Eoman orator learned injurisprudence and expert in affairs, came nearer to hisconception of a " wise " man than the scientists andspecialists whom he saw around him. The powers ofthe classical w^orld were those which had the greatestinfluence in moulding his thoughts. Classical mythol-ogy, history, poetry, philosophy, and law were the chiefsources both of his inspiration and of his information.His keenness in detecting and eagerness to correct thedefects of the modern method of studies arose fromadmiration of the freedom with which Plato theorised,and of the rhetorical and erudite amplitude of discussiondisplayed in the philosoiDhical writings of Cicero, and froma zeal for the interests of literature, learning, and societya zeal which had been kindled at Greek and Romanfires. Bacon and Grotius became his teachers only afterhe had been long under the authority of Plato, Tacitus,and Cicero, and their influence was always secondary andsubordinate to that of his earlier masters.

In the Orations Yico finds occasion to express beliefin God, in divine Providence, in the immortality of thesoul, in the doctrine of human depravity, and in thealone adequacy of the Christian scheme of morals toregulate human life, in a way which shows that hethought a true philosophy would be clearly and decidedlyaffirmative on all these positions. In this respect henever wavered. Religious belief, to the extent indicated,entered into and affected all his subsequent speculations.


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Religion and Philoso])hy. 69It even increased in clearness and comprehensivenesswith the general expansion of his system. He M'as con-stitutionally serious and devout, and may justly be spokenof as a religious and a Christian thinker. It -would be aninexcusable oversight not to indicate distinctly so prom-inent a feature of his character as his piety. But it isequally necessary to remind the reader that exaggeratedrepresentations have been made in this connection, andeven by writers the most opposed in their principles andprofessions. His philosophy has been described as, likethe scholastic systems, largely resting on Christianity,and as constructed in the interests of a theology or aChurch. On this ground some have eulogised it as anadmirable example of the only true kind of philosophy,and others condemned it as a system of a manifestlyantiquated and obsolete nature. The praise and censureare alike undeserved, for the preconception on whichboth proceed is a mere imagination. Yico regarded thefew general religious truths which I have mentioned asprinciples in which philosophy was deeply concerned,and he supposed that philosophy and Christianity werenot antagonistic but accordant. He made no attempt,however, to found his system on Christianity, and hederived from Christianity little of the material which heemployed in the construction of his system. Crreekmyths, Latin etymologies and locutions, and especiallythe philosophy, history, and law of the ancient heathenworld, were soiu'ces from which he drew much morefreely than from the Christian Scriptures. Even thedoctrines of the Divine existence, of Providence, and ofimmortality, seemed to him dictates of the common-senseof humanity. He found them in Plato and Cicero as


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70 Vico.well as in the Bible. There is no evidence of his havingstudied any work of early Christian literature exceptAugustine's 'De Civitate Dei' and the EcclesiasticalHistory of Eusebius. He appears, in fact, to havehad strangely little interest in Christian systematictheology. Probably he was afraid to venture anyconsiderable distance on such dangerous ground.

Yico was Roman Catholic ; but neither in the Ora-tions nor in his other works has he introduced thedistinctive doctrines of Eoman Catholicism. He sharedthe prejudicealmost universal among the Rom.an Cath-olics of his time that Lutheranism and Calvinismsubstituted Eatalism and JSTecessity for Providence andEree-will; and on this ground he deemed them incon-sistent with a philosoj^hy which would satisfy the gen-eral reason of mankind. On the other hand, he some-times took occasion to affirm that his own doctrines werein harmony with the Catholic faith, even when the rele-vancy of the remark was far from obvious. He wasmanifestly resolved to commit himself as a philosopheronly to the assertion of a few fundamental religiousprinciples involved in the common faith of humanity,and, at the same time, to avoid if possible affording anyoccasion or pretext for accusations of heresy. His reti-cence in regard to all but the most general and essentialdoctrines of religion is a fact which should be distinctlynoted. It is altogether erroneous to represent his philo-sophy as a Eoman Catholic philosophy. He may havegot, and ]3robably did get, from Catholicism, as wellas from classical antiquity, a portion of his aversionto individualism, and of his appreciation of authorityand of common -sense or collective reason. Eoman


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72 Vico.scend the limits of his own age and country, and whohad a reverence for the past which many philosophersof the present day may deem excessive.

In the next chapter we shall find the most appro-priate place to exhibit the relation of his abstract ormetaphysical philosophy to that of his more immediatepredecessors and to his contemporaries.


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CHAPTER VI.vice's METAPHYSICS.

I, GENERAL.

The discourse on the Method of Studies M^as followedby a treatise on the Primitive Wisdom of the Italians.This was merely the first or metaphysical part of a workintended to treat also of physics and ethics, but thelatter parts never appeared. The part published bearstwo titles,the one general, ' De Antiquissima ItalorumSapientia ex Linguae Latinae originibus eruenda LibriTres ; ' and the other special, ' Liber Primus sive Met-aphysicus ad nobilissinium virum Paullum MatthiamDoriam praestantissimum philosophum scriptus ^eapolian. MDCCX.' The discussion between its author andan anonymous but able reviewer in the ' Giornale deiLetterati d'Italia,' forms an appendix considerably largerthan the treatise itself. It is, however, an interestingand needed supplement, with which the treatise requiresto be throughout carefully compared. Treatise andappendix will sometimes, for the sake of l)revity andconvenience, be referred to in the following pages simplyas the Metaphysics.^

1 The treatise is ^\Titten in Latin, and c

Flint - Vico

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