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Horst Steinke
74
other expressions of culture
144
. For heuristic purposes, the term
“theory” is employed here in the restricted technical sense of sci-
entific theory, as a system of conceptual instruments for under-
standing and explaining a particular set of phenomena. One of
the purposes of this particular semantic markedness opted for in
the present context is to make the proposed distinction between
“philosophy” and “philology” as pronounced as possible. If
“philology” constitutes “theory”, then “philosophy” is “pre-
theoretic”
145
. The “qualitative” difference between the content of
“philosophy” as sketched above, and “philology” becomes evi-
dent by what Vico included in
Philology
. The issues and subject
matters with which he concerns himself are, first of all, the so-
cial
146
. The other major topics are language
147
, especially the
origin of the so-called «heroic» and «vulgar» languages; forms of
governance («theocratic», «aristocratic», «monarchies»), and, fi-
nally, the origins of Roman law
148
.
This rich material, however, is not presented as merely histor-
ical data, but as occurring in accordance with theoretical con-
structs, or, at least, that is Vico’s declared intent, as he made clear
at one point:
What would be the principles of profane history? That we might know
on what grounds this civil authority developed from the lawlessness of
the human race in its first ages to these commonwealths in which we
now live, it is necessary to reconstruct the history of the dark time
ac-
cording to our principles
(Chapter 6, § 4; italics added).
In effect, Vico developed a “model”
149
of the diachronic de-
velopment of spheres of greatest importance to him, as seen
time and again, including social and cultural anthropology, prin-
ciples of law and justice (up to the inter-national level), and
forms of governance. The term Vico himself employs in
Scienza
nuova
is of course «ideal eternal history». (§§ 145, 245, 294, 349)
150
Statements of a “philological” rather than “philosophical” na-
ture, in fact, comprise by far the great majority of the “Ele-