Course Description
“The order of ideas must follow the order of things” (Giambattista Vico, The New Science)
“The whole is really the flower of wisdom” (Giambattista Vico, Of the Study Methods of Our Time)
This course looks at Vico's attempt, culminating in the New Science, to seek the foundations of social humanistic knowledge. While the first part of the seminar is devoted to a reading of Vico's own work, the second will follow (some) uses of Vico as alleged "precursor" of disparate theories and methodologies of knowledge such as idealism, materialism, epistemology, modern and postmodern historicism.
“The whole is really the flower of wisdom” (Giambattista Vico, Of the Study Methods of Our Time)
This course looks at Vico's attempt, culminating in the New Science, to seek the foundations of social humanistic knowledge. While the first part of the seminar is devoted to a reading of Vico's own work, the second will follow (some) uses of Vico as alleged "precursor" of disparate theories and methodologies of knowledge such as idealism, materialism, epistemology, modern and postmodern historicism.
Syllabus
August 29. Cancelled Class
No class today (Conference in Budapest)
September 5. Introduction
Edmund Wilson, “Michelet Discovers Vico,” To the Finland Station (1940)
Erich Auerbach, "Vico and Aesthetic Historism." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 8.2 (1949): 110-118.
September 12. Vico and/in the University
Giambattista Vico, On Humanistic Education: Six Inaugural Orations, 1699-1707
September 19. Science and the Humanities
Giambattista Vico, On the Study Methods of Our Time
September 26. Mysteries of the Verum-Factum
Giambattista Vico, On the Most Ancient Wisdom of the Italians
October 3. Sum, ergo Cogito
Giambattista Vico, The Autobiography
October 10. Fall Break
October 17. Sum, ergo Cogito
Giambattista Vico, The Autobiography
October 24. The Human Beast
Giambattista Vico, The New Science
October 31. For Fear of God
Giambattista Vico, The New Science
November 7. Différence et Répétition; Corsi e Ricorsi
Giambattista Vico, The New Science
November 14. For an Epic of the Mild-Mannered Professor
Giambattista Vico, “Of the Heroic Mind”
November 21. Some Vicos
Max Horkheimer, “Vico and Mythology”; Isahia Berlin, “Vico and the Ideal of the Enlightenment”; Hayden White, “The Irrational and Historical Knowledge”
November 28. Conclusions
No class today (Conference in Budapest)
September 5. Introduction
Edmund Wilson, “Michelet Discovers Vico,” To the Finland Station (1940)
Erich Auerbach, "Vico and Aesthetic Historism." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 8.2 (1949): 110-118.
September 12. Vico and/in the University
Giambattista Vico, On Humanistic Education: Six Inaugural Orations, 1699-1707
September 19. Science and the Humanities
Giambattista Vico, On the Study Methods of Our Time
September 26. Mysteries of the Verum-Factum
Giambattista Vico, On the Most Ancient Wisdom of the Italians
October 3. Sum, ergo Cogito
Giambattista Vico, The Autobiography
October 10. Fall Break
October 17. Sum, ergo Cogito
Giambattista Vico, The Autobiography
October 24. The Human Beast
Giambattista Vico, The New Science
October 31. For Fear of God
Giambattista Vico, The New Science
November 7. Différence et Répétition; Corsi e Ricorsi
Giambattista Vico, The New Science
November 14. For an Epic of the Mild-Mannered Professor
Giambattista Vico, “Of the Heroic Mind”
November 21. Some Vicos
Max Horkheimer, “Vico and Mythology”; Isahia Berlin, “Vico and the Ideal of the Enlightenment”; Hayden White, “The Irrational and Historical Knowledge”
November 28. Conclusions
Requirements
Students’ participation in class discussions is essential. Also required is a final paper (7-10 pages for undergraduates; 15-20 for graduates), whose topic will be discussed with the instructor.
Meeting Time and Place
Carr 242 , Mondays 3:05-5:35pm