Living in a province dominated by powerful oligarchs, Giambattista Vico (1668–1744) concluded that political philosophy should work to undermine aristocratic authority and prevent political devolution into feudalism. Rejecting the possibility that the free market could successfully instill civil behavior, he advocated for a strong central judicial system to work closely with citizens to promote stability and justice. This study puts Vico in conversation with other Enlightenment thinkers such as Locke, Rousseau, and Mandeville to show how his alternative warrants serious consideration. (...) In contrast to scholars who read Vico's New Science as a defense of the imagination, this study casts his account of poetic wisdom politically as an epistemological critique of the aristocratic mentality. Myth and Authority argues that Vico's depiction of pagan religion is a refined attempt to explain how oligarchy maintains its stranglehold on power. While Western civilization did not follow the path Vico suggested, it may now be more relevant as concerns grow about the increasing influence of the wealthy on civil institutions. (shrink)

This discussion is an analysis of Vico’s account of the imaginative universals in the 1744 edition of the New Science in regard to the origin of number. The origin of number is a difficult problem for Vico because numbers are discursive concepts, yet Vico wants to fi nd their origin in mythical thought. Vico finds the origin of numbers in the power struggle between the heroes and the plebeians. The imaginative universal Mercury is the heroic act of granting bonitary ownership (...) to the plebeians. However, Mercury is also the imaginative universal of marking heroic ownership. Number originates from the heroes emphasizing ownership by marking territory more than once. This explains several peculiar passages in the New Science, including Vico’s claims about the three frogs of France (NS par. 535). (shrink)

This discussion is an analysis of Vico’s account of the imaginative universals in the 1744 edition of the New Science in regard to the origin of number. The origin of number is a difficult problem for Vico because numbers are discursive concepts, yet Vico wants to fi nd their origin in mythical thought. Vico finds the origin of numbers in the power struggle between the heroes and the plebeians. The imaginative universal Mercury is the heroic act of granting bonitary ownership (...) to the plebeians. However, Mercury is also the imaginative universal of marking heroic ownership. Number originates from the heroes emphasizing ownership by marking territory more than once. This explains several peculiar passages in the New Science, including Vico’s claims about the three frogs of France (NS par. 535). (shrink)

This discussion is an analysis of Vico’s account of the imaginative universals in the 1744 edition of the New Science in regard to the origin of number. The origin of number is a difficult problem for Vico because numbers are discursive concepts, yet Vico wants to fi nd their origin in mythical thought. Vico finds the origin of numbers in the power struggle between the heroes and the plebeians. The imaginative universal Mercury is the heroic act of granting bonitary ownership (...) to the plebeians. However, Mercury is also the imaginative universal of marking heroic ownership. Number originates from the heroes emphasizing ownership by marking territory more than once. This explains several peculiar passages in the New Science, including Vico’s claims about the three frogs of France (NS par. 535). (shrink)

This discussion is an analysis of Vico’s account of the imaginative universals in the 1744 edition of the New Science in regard to the origin of number. The origin of number is a difficult problem for Vico because numbers are discursive concepts, yet Vico wants to fi nd their origin in mythical thought. Vico finds the origin of numbers in the power struggle between the heroes and the plebeians. The imaginative universal Mercury is the heroic act of granting bonitary ownership (...) to the plebeians. However, Mercury is also the imaginative universal of marking heroic ownership. Number originates from the heroes emphasizing ownership by marking territory more than once. This explains several peculiar passages in the New Science, including Vico’s claims about the three frogs of France (NS par. 535). (shrink)

This discussion is an analysis of Vico’s account of the imaginative universals in the 1744 edition of the New Science in regard to the origin of number. The origin of number is a difficult problem for Vico because numbers are discursive concepts, yet Vico wants to fi nd their origin in mythical thought. Vico finds the origin of numbers in the power struggle between the heroes and the plebeians. The imaginative universal Mercury is the heroic act of granting bonitary ownership (...) to the plebeians. However, Mercury is also the imaginative universal of marking heroic ownership. Number originates from the heroes emphasizing ownership by marking territory more than once. This explains several peculiar passages in the New Science, including Vico’s claims about the three frogs of France (NS par. 535). (shrink)