Vico’s Ring
47
Mutes utter formless sounds by singing and stammerers by singing
teach their tongues to pronounce. Men vent great passions by breaking
into song […]. From [these] axioms […]
it follows
that the founders of
the gentile nations, […] were inexpressive save under the impulse of
violent passions, and formed their first languages by singing (italics
added).
If one considers these statements in the light of stringent de-
ductive rules, as suggested by the phrase “it follows”, they be-
come problematic, as there is, on the one hand, no logical con-
nection between mutes, stammerers, and men in general who
want to vent their reactions, as well as sound, emotion, and
speech, aside from leaving open the possibility of alternative ex-
planations. At best, Vico’s theory is not without a certain plausi-
bility that makes it worth considering, as its status as
degnità
calls
for
103
.
The view entertained here, that Vico’s “Elements” are neither
intended nor conceived in terms of strict, compelling deductive
logic as is the case with Spinoza’s
Ethics,
may seem not to take
into account a key statement in the “Method” section of Book I,
which is the frequently quoted § 349, reading in part:
Now, as geometry, when it constructs the world of quantity out of its
elements, or contemplates that world, is creating it for itself, just so
does our Science [create for itself the world of nations], but with a real-
ity greater by just so much as the institutions having to do with human
affairs are more real than points, lines, surfaces, and figures are
104
.
In speaking of “geometry”, what in fact is Vico referring to?
Or, more specifically, is he referring to the “geometric method”,
which, as we have seen, is deductive logic by another name? This
cannot be answered adequately without taking into account what
Vico had to say elsewhere, in more detail, about
points, line, surfac-
es, and figures
. The best source for his thinking on this subject is
undoubtedly
Liber metaphysicus
in which the epistemological status