Giambattista Vico Quotes

Giambattista Vico was born in Naples, Italy. He was an Italian political philosopher, historian and jurist, who was recognized as a great intellectual of the Age of Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationalism and was an apologist for Classical Antiquity; he is best known for his magnum opus, The New Science. He is also well known for noting that Verum esse ipsum factum, a proposition perceived as an early instance of constructivist epistemology. He received his formal higher education at the University of Naples from which he graduated in 1694 as Doctor of Civil and Canon Law. In 1734, however, he was appointed royal historiographer by Charles III, king of Naples, and was offered a salary far surpassing that of his professorship. He wrote several books include: On humanistic education, The Art of Rhetoric, and Universal Right.