On the Most Ancient Wisdom of the Italians: Unearthed from the Origins of the Latin Language

by Giambattista Vico, L. M. Palmer (Translator)

Overview

On the Most Ancient Wisdom of the Italians, originally published in 1710, is widely regarded as Vico's most significant work after the New Science and the Autobiography. Subtitled "The Book of Metaphysics," it was one of three planned volumes of a larger work that was never published, and it marks Vico's transition from rhetorician to philosopher of historical knowledge. This edition incorporates translations from the Italian of a contemporary review and Vico's responses, published in 1711 and 1712. L. M. Palmer's translation helps make more accessible a treatise of vital importance for an understanding of Vico's epistemology, psychology, and philosophy of mathematics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801495113
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	08/23/1988
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

The late L. M. Palmer was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Delaware.

What People are Saying About This

H. S. Harris

This is a work of the first importance on its own account, and it should gain attention from students of Descartes and Malbranche (among Vico's predecessors) and students of Collingwood (among his successors). Palmer's translation of the associated controversial discussions adds greatly to the value of the English edition.

Editorial Reviews

Until now, the Latin treatise in which Vico first set forth his theory of knowledge and of metaphysics, On the Most Ancient Wisdom of the Italians, has never had a complete rendering into English. Lucia Palmer in this volume has provided a welcome translation not only of the treatise, but also of a series of exchanges concerning it (1711–12) between Vico and the Giornale de' letterati d'Italia. It contains the fullest statement of Vico's principle that the true and the made are interchangeable.

Seventeenth-Century News

This work gives significant insight into the early thoughts of one of the first truly modern thinkers in Western intellectual tradition. Palmer's excellent introduction illustrates its historical significance by placing it in a wider context.

-- "Library Journal"

Until now, the Latin treatise in which Vico first set forth his theory of knowledge and of metaphysics, On the Most Ancient Wisdom of the Italians, has never had a complete rendering into English. Lucia Palmer in this volume has provided a welcome translation not only of the treatise, but also of a series of exchanges concerning it (1711-12) between Vico and the Giornale de' letterati d'Italia. It contains the fullest statement of Vico's principle that the true and the made are interchangeable.

-- "Seventeenth-Century News"

From the Publisher

$8.95. phil Italian philosopher and social theorist Vico (1668-1744) is best known for his Principles of a New Science Concerning the Common Nature of All Nations (1725), which aimed to discover the laws governing the formation, development, and decay of societies. This earlier work marks Vico's transition from rhetorician to philosopher of history. All that remains of a projected three-volume work on metaphysics, logic, and ethics, it gives significant insight into the early thoughts of one of the first truly modern thinkers in Western intellectual tradition. Palmer's excellent introduction illustrates its historical significance by placing it in a wider historical context. For academic libraries. Raymond Frey, Bergen Community Coll., Paramus, N.J.

Library Journal