Horst Steinke, Vico’s Ring. Notes on the“Scienza nuova”, its Structure, and the Hermeneutics of Homer’s Works

297

Horst Steinke

, Decatur, Indiana

Vico’s Ring. Notes on the

“

Scienza nuova”, its Structure, and the Hermeneutics of

Homer’s Works

, Napoli, ISPF Lab - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

(“I quaderni del Lab”, 4), 2016, ISBN 978-88-908712-2-1.

Abstract

The present study of Giambattista Vico’s defining work,

La Scienza

nuova

(

The New Science

) is concerned with an approach to the work that

pays requisite attention not only to the

content

but also to its

form

. To

that end, Horst Steinke proposes that

Scienza nuova

possesses the struc-

ture of a ring composition by which individual parts of the work relate

to each other in complex but identifiable ways. This approach, which is

developed through a discussion of all five Books that make up the

work, also leads to, or implies, certain constraints on the interpretation

of Vico’s thought, resulting from an interplay of form and content.

Since Vico made Homer the centerpiece of his own work, Vico’s her-

meneutics are discussed in the context of his underlying philosophy of

language, and both are compared with Spinoza’s thought. Finally, the

so-called “Homeric question”, in Vico’s view, is addressed in an

original way.

Keywords

G. Vico; B. Spinoza; Ring composition; Category theory; Homer

Laboratorio dell’ISPF

ISSN 2465-1338 (supplement series)

ISSN 1824-9817 (journal)