Vico’s Ring
13
ligious thoughts in the domain of immanence Croce follows the principles of
critical rationalism articulated by Spinoza. In the
Tractatus Theologico-Politicus
(
Theological-Political Treatise
), Spinoza gives a rigorous critique of the structure
and composition of the Pentateuch and reaches skeptical conclusions about
its religious claims and foundations. Vico – and this is Croce’s suggestion –
follows Spinoza’s inquiry in his redescription of the “Homeric question”» (G.
Mazzotta,
The New Map of the World: The Poetic Philosophy of Giambattista Vico,
Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1999, p. 235; also published in Italian
as
La nuova mappa del mondo. La filosofia poetica di Giambattista Vico
,
tr. it. by M.
Simonetta, Turin, Einaudi, 1999). G. Costa observed: «Rudolf Pfeiffer lamen-
tava la barriera che aveva separato gli studi biblici dagli studi classici, perché si
ignorava che Vico l’aveva superata e che proprio in ciò consisteva il suo prin-
cipale merito (Rudolf Pfeiffer bemoaned the barrier that separated biblical
from classical studies as he was not aware that Vico had removed the barrier,
which in itself constituted his principal achievement)» (Id.,
Religione, filosofia e
modernità in Vico. Con un’appendice su “Vico, Thomas Gataker e la filologia protestan-
te”
), in
Razionalità e modernità in Vico
, ed. by M. Vanzulli, Milan, Mimesis, 2012,
pp. 179-195, p. 185).
6
For a discussion of Vico’s facing the Inquisition and Index of Prohibited
Books, see G. Costa,
Religione, filosofia e modernità in Vico,
cit., and his contribu-
tion
Vico e la Sacra Scrittura alla luce di un fascicolo dell’Inquisizione
, in
Pensar para un
nuevo siglo
, cit., vol. I, pp. 253-273. This was clearly a complex situation, includ-
ing the changing climate in which the authorities started to feel the need for a
degree of discretion and caution rather than acting with the accustomed per-
emptoriness. See also F. Nicolini,
Saggi Vichiani,
Naples, Giannini, 1955, pp.
283-295; D. Ph. Verene,
Vico’s Reply to the False Book Notice – The Vici Vindiciae.
Translation and Commentary,
in
Giambattista Vico: Keys to the
New Science
. Trans-
lations. Commentaries, and Essays,
ed. by Th. Ilin Bayer and D. Ph. Verene, Itha-
ca-London, Cornell University Press, 2009, pp. 85-135, pp. 101-104; M. Lolli-
ni,
Natura, ragione e modernità nella Scienza nuova di Vico
, in
Razionalità e modernità
in Vico
, cit., pp. 219-243, pp. 225-226. For further historical background, see
F. Barbierato,
The Inquisitor in the Hat Shop: Inquisition, Forbidden Books and Unbe-
lief in Early Modern Venice,
Burlington, Ashgate Publishing, 2012.
7
References to comparisons of Vico with Spinoza can be found in D. Ph.
Verene,
Vico’s Reprehension of the Metaphysics of René Descartes, Benedict Spinoza, and
John Locke. Translation and Commentary,
in
Giambattista Vico: Keys to the
New Sci-
ence, cit., pp. 179-198, and in «NVS», 8, 1990, pp. 2-18. See also M. Sanna,
La
“fantasia che è l’occhio dell’ingegno”. La questione della verità e della sua rappresentazione
in Vico,
Naples, Alfredo Guida, 2001, pp. 91-126. The following, among oth-
ers, could be added: A. Funkenstein,
Natural Science and Social Theory: Hobbes,