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Vico’s Ring
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dium; to the contrary, they convey the notion of mastery and
control over language, over the relation of language to the world,
and ultimately, even the ability of varying this relation as well as
alternativeness relation over “worlds”
382
. As noted above, these
are the hallmarks of language as “calculus” in our sense.
For additional evidence in ascertaining Vico’s presuppostions,
we turn to Chapter IV of “Poetic Logic”, in particular, §§ 437-
446, where Vico presents his thesis of «three languages» which
he closely associates to three paradigmatic successive historical
“ages” (the ages of the “gods”, of “heroes”, and of “men”)
383
.
The first language rules in the realm of the sacred; the second,
prevails in the world of «heroic», that is, «aristocratically» ruled,
and ideologically driven, communities, whereas the third lan-
guage is the language of intellectual reflection as well as the vehi-
cle of intersubjectivity in the more «human(e)» forms of govern-
ance of «populist republics» and «monarchies». In view of Vico’s
sharply drawn lines between these three types of languages, his
clarification in § 446 is key to solving the diachronic/functional
puzzle:
To enter now upon the extremely difficult [question of the] way in
which these three kinds of languages and letters were formed, we must
establish this principle: that as gods, heroes, and men began at the
same time (for they were, after all, men who imagined the gods and be-
lieved their own heroic nature to be a mixture of the divine and human
natures), so these three languages began at the same time, each having
its letters, which developed along with it.
As explained by Zagarella, taking Vico at his (above) word,
the three types of languages, while always present, and present
from the beginning, are extant in different proportions during
different times (ages); these greatly varying proportions give a
distinctive character to each age
384
. Furthermore, in each age, el-
ements or traces of the other languages are never completely
eliminated or cancelled out
385
. This is true as much for the first,