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

Vico’s Ring

cast on «philosophy» and «philology», this sphere seems to stay

in the shadows, at least on the rhetorical stage. It is, nonetheless,

just as essential a part of Vico’s overall philosophical reflection

as «philosophy» and «philology»

159

. Let us label these two disci-

plines together as “epistemology”, and it becomes immediately

clear that what is missing is “ontology”, entities that provide the

subject matter for epistemology. This ontology is constituted by

the real world of humans in its historical and cultural dimen-

sions. The upshot is that Vico’s reflections have the structural

property of a trichotomy

160

, to wit, (1) “philosophy”, (2) “philol-

ogy”, and (3) historical reality

161

In the preceding discussion, not only was it argued that Vico’s

framework of socio-political and historical reflection involved,

and consisted of, three spheres, but also emphasized their idio-

syncrasies and incommensurability. This stance would seem to

fly in the face of both Vico’s own stated views and Vico studies.

As already quoted in the introduction, Vico insisted that “philos-

ophy” needed to give due consideration to «the authority of

[“philology”]» in order not to lose touch with reality, the realm

of the

certain

, while “philology” should avail itself of «the reason-

ing of [“philosophy”]», as a means of assuring concurrence with

the

true

(Axiom X, §§ 138, 140). This intended intimate bond be-

tween “philosophy” and “philology” has been described in vari-

ous ways. In addition to the characterizations already referred to,

Vico is said to «to marry philosophy with philology»

162

, and «to

demand collaboration between philosophy and philology»

163

«manifestation of the fusion of philology and philosophy»

164

, and

there are various other ways the relationship may be viewed.

While the (metaphorical) terms used originate in widely varying

semantic (and conceptual) domains, they all have their own

complexity, and by virtue of this complexity, they nicely mirror

the complexity of Vico’s own thinking. On the other hand, if we

are concerned with exploring the nature and inner dynamics of