Vico’s Ring
61
Press, 1979, Part 1, pp. 60-90. For a more detailed discussion than can be pre-
sented here, please consult these papers.
101
«
Axiomatic:
where the axiom is directly certified on the basis of an im-
mediate intuitive grasp; […]
inductive
, where the assertion rests upon the per-
ception of similarity in a group of particulars; […]
retroductive
, where the asser-
tion is a hypothetical one, and where its warrant lies in the number and variety
of verified consequences drawn from it » (E. McMullin,
Vico’s Theory of Science,
cit., pp. 73-74).
102
Ibid.
, pp. 81-82. Fàj adheres to the terms “axioms” and “inferences” in
the deductive logic sense in commenting on several Axioms of Vico dealing
with human nature, language and customs (Axioms XIV, XV, LXIII, CVI,
LXIV, LXV; §§ 147-148, 236-239, 314), by the aid of which «we are able to
explain […] particular usages and customs of a country and also particular lin-
guistic facts» (Id.,
Vico as Philosopher of Metabasis
, cit., p. 101). In his
The Unor-
thodox Logic of Scientific Discovery,
cit., Fàj shows that the “Elements” are not to
be interpreted in terms of the “hypothetical-deductive” method, since «Vi-
chian axioms are never stated as hypotheses, but as universal affirmative
propositions», and that «[h]is postulates are not deduced from his axioms, but
that his axioms
are made
by means of the postulates» (italics in the original).
For an engagement by Goetsch with Fàj, see J. R.. Goetsch,
Vico’s Axioms
,
cit., pp. 104-107.
103
E. McMullin,
Vico’s Theory of Science
, cit., p. 82, added: «Instances of this
sort could be multiplied, but perhaps this one will suffice to make the point
that the logical connection in Vico’s argument are much looser than the ter-
minology of axiom and consequence would lead one to expect».
104
The translation by Marsh reads: «In this way, my Science proceeds like
geometry which, by constructing and contemplating its basic elements, creates
its own world of measurable quantities. So does my Science, but with greater
reality, just as the orders of human affairs are more real than points, lines, sur-
faces, and figures».
It should be recognized here that readers of this passage have connected it
with Spinozan expressions, such as the ending of
Ethics
, Part III, Introduc-
tion: «I shall consider human actions and desires in exactly the same manner,
as though I were concerned with lines, planes, and solids» (see O. Remaud,
Vico lector de Espinosa,
cit., p. 199). Also, § 349 ends with the endorsement «that
these proofs are of a kind divine and should give thee a divine pleasure”, with
respect to which M. Agrimi commented: «E non si può non percipire in ques-
to “entusiasmo” di Vico la forza insinuante dei temi spinoziani, […] della con-
templazione
sub specie aeternitatis
e dell’
amor Dei intellectualis
(One cannot help
but perceive in this ‘enthusiasm’ of Vico the suggestive power of Spinozan