135 / 298
Vico’s Ring
135
cal) economy” in the sense of the discipline of economics came into use only
in the course of the 18
th
century)» (Id.,
Einleitung
, cit., p. XCIV). The
Hösle/Jermann translation uses the expressions «Lehre von der Ordnung der
Familie (doctrine on the family arrangement)», «familiäre Zucht (order/rule in
the family)», and «Familienordnung (family arrangement/structure)», respec-
tively.
The Spanish translation says «De la economía poética», but adds in a foot-
note: «Es la doctrina del gobierno de la familia (It is the doctrine of ruling the
family)» (see
Ciencia nueva
, trans. by R. de la Villa, prologue by J. M. Romey
Beccaria, intro. by L. Pompa, trans. of intro. by S. Diaz Sepulveda, Madrid,
Editorial Tecnos, 2006, p. 337; the French translation says «Économique
poétique» (see
Principes d’une Science Nouvelle relative à la Nature Commune des Na-
tions
, trans. by A. Pons, Paris, Fayard, 2001, p. 241).
Cristofolini also highlights the archaic sense of Vico’s language: «Il passag-
gio dalla morale all’iconomica – e preferiamo andare avanti con la parola ar-
caica del linguaggio vichiano, a scanso di ogni equivoco e sovrapposizione con
l’economia politica, scienza di lì a poco fiorente, dalla quale Vico è però lon-
tano anni luce – […] ( The passage from morals to «iconomica» – and we pre-
fer to continue using the archaic word of Vico’s language, for the sake of
avoiding any misunderstanding and overlapping [of meaning] with the politi-
cal economy, a discipline then already flourishing a little, of which Vico how-
ever was lightyears away – […])» (Id.,
La Scienza nuova
di Vico
, cit., p. 121). See
also Cristofolini’s further comments on this Section
ibid.
, pp. 121-124.
L. Haddad aptly observed: «There is a small section (IV) in
The New Science
entitled “Poetic Economy” which deals with the evolution of a primitive
economy, but it contains very little that may be explicitly termed pure eco-
nomic analysis» (Id.,
The Evolutionary Economics of Giambattista Vico
, in
Altro Po-
lo: Italian Economics Past and Present
, ed. by P. Groenewegen and J. Halevi, Syd-
ney, University of Sydney, 1983, pp. 17-30, p. 19).
The “Poetic Economy” is also discussed in G. Mazzotta,
The New Map of
the World
, cit., pp. 185-187, and termed «the politics of the household» (p.
185).
271
Vico’s lifelong precarious financial circumstances and struggle to raise
and support a large family cannot but have made him only too acutely aware
of economic imperatives (see M. Sanna,
Le epistole vichiane e la nascita dell’idea di
scienza nuova
, in «BCSV», XXIV-XXV, 1994-1995, pp. 119-129, p. 129).
272
An opposite view is taken by A. Pipa,
Economy in Vico’s System
, in
Vico:
Past and Present
, cit., pp. 145-156. Through a close reading of these statements,
Pipa comes to the view that «[a] reading of the
New Science
with particular at-
tention of its economic element shows that it permeates Vico’s theory of his-