ABSTRACT
As the cognitive mind passes from feeling without noticing to noticing with disturbed and confused faculties, and thence to the reflection of the clear mind, so analogously the volitional mind passes from the state of nature to practical certitude and thence to practical truth. With the study of Plato began the unconscious awakening in him of the thought of conceiving an ideal eternal law, to be expressed in a universal state built on the idea or plan of providence, on which idea, indeed, are founded all the states of every period and race. The practical aspect of the New Science was simply a summary or duplicate of the science itself, emphasising the two leading elements of spontaneous and reflective wisdom, certitude and truth, and the necessity of bearing both in mind. It would certainly be rash to claim precise knowledge of Vico's reasons for omitting note on practical principles in final manuscript of the last edition of the Scienza Nuova.
