"For it is an invariable property that, when human affairs appear to lack reason and even to contradict it, people resign themselves to the inscrutable counsels hidden in the abyss of divine providence."

Charmingly questionable speculations (such as poo-smeared babies growing into enormous adults) broken up by long discussions of Roman law that made my eyes glaze over. ( )

The Enlightenment was just starting to bud into existence, but an Italian scholar thought the “modern” thinking was ignoring the light of knowledge from classical antiquity and the Renaissance that he proposed had not been looked at properly. New Science by Giambattista Vico was meant to be the debut of a new scientific method that was better than the rationalism that was developing among the European intelligentsia, but what he helped developed was something completely different than his intent.

Using the mythology and histories from Greece, Rome, and other ancient civilizations Vico proposed a ‘history of philosophy narrated philosophically’ which would be a new variant of Renaissance humanism. However what Vico produced has been interpreted as ‘cycles of history’ by later philosophic thinkers or inspiring anthropologists and sociologists by using myths to figure out a culture’s historical memory and how language, knowledge, and society interact with one another. While Vico’s overall ideas were interesting and I could see how his ideas would later influence others in years and centuries to come, this wasn’t the best written book especially because the modern translator had to insert multiple corrections to Vico’s text because he had the wrong person referenced even though this was the third and last edition of his work. While I was intrigued while reading, if I had never seen this book, I would not have missed anything.

New Science is an interesting read, Giambattista Vico’s theories didn’t not have the exact impact he was hoping for, but they were influential. ( )

Zitate aus diesem Buch:

„Die Phantasie ist umso kräftiger, je geringer das Denkvermögen ist.“

"Eine durch Religionen geteilte Stadt liegt entweder schon in Trümmern oder ist kurz davor.“ ( )

How to rate this? Weird: sometimes charmingly, sometimes irritatingly so—but that's the nature of being an original-for-the-time thinker, I guess, without recognizing, and hence being able to free yourself from, certain assumptions.

It is unique. It is headache inducing. It is glorious and it should be far, far better known. ( )