Vico: The New Science

Italian language resources

Hume: A Treatise of Human Nature

The New Science (Italian: La Scienza Nuova) is a work by the Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico, originally published in 1725 and expanded in several later editions. It provides a history of civil society, interpreted, in opposition to contemporary Cartesian rationalism, through the principle of verum factum that what has been made by humans can be understood by humans.

Vico's account of human progress and his insight into the difference between ancient and modern ways of thinking has led many to credit him with being the first true philosopher of history.

Free online texts

Internet Archive: The New Science, translated by Thomas Goddard Bergin and Max Harodl Frisch (Cornell, 1948). Multiple formats.

Wikisource: Italian text. HTML and other formats.

Other Resources

Emory University: Institute for Vico Studies.

Internet Archive: The Philosophy of Giambattista Vico, by Benedetto Croce, translted by R.G. Collingwood. (1913).

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Vico, Giambattista (1668-1744).

Leo Strauss Center: Vico Seminars - recordings of seminars held by Strauss in 1963.

PhilPapers: Giovanni Battista Vico - bibliography with open access option.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Giambattista Vico.

Wikipedia: Giambattista Vico - The New Science

Further reading at Tom's Learning Notes

Homer: The Iliad - The Odyssey - Vico was among the earliest to theorise that the Homeric epics were not the work of a single individual.

Italian Language resources.