ABSTRACT
There is a continuous mingling of philosophical, juridical, and philological matters, for Signor Vico has devoted himself particularly to these three sciences and pondered them well. Descartes could have his hearing in the various academies and literary salons of the city, but at the royal university, and in the society that it served, Cicero reigned supreme. Vico’s entry into the querelle des anciens et modernes, the most significant of his early initiatives, took the form of a protest against the curtailment of reason. Reasoning, he saw, belongs to the fabric of life. When men act publicly, or when they urge a course of action upon others, they must be ready with their reasons. Westerners have generally been restless with this verdict, distrustful of a life abandoned to the rule of mere prudence. From science to philosophy to simple standards of decorum they have sought to elicit more reliable guidance in the affairs of everyday life.
