82 / 298
Horst Steinke
82
While Vico’s reference, in § 245, to axioms about the ideal eternal history
that preceded Axiom LXVIII did not specify which Axioms he had in mind,
in the subsequent statement about Axioms applicable to the ideal eternal his-
tory, in § 294, appended to Axiom XCVI, he specifically names Axiom LXVI
as marking the beginning of principles. We opt therefore to exclude Axiom
LXV from consideration, and thus, to sidestep the issue of tension that oth-
erwise ensues.
151
S. Otto commented: «Ma la sua assiomatica distingue chiaramente pro-
posizioni scientifiche, filosofiche e filologiche, separa nettamente gli asserti sul
“certo” da quelli sul “vero”» (But his [Vico’s] axiom system clearly distingui-
shes between scientific, philosophical, and philological propositions, and in an
orderly way separates the statements about “the certain” from those about
“the true”)» (Id.,
Un assioma
(
Grundsatz
)
della Scienza nuova
come principio-guida
(
Leitsatz
)
per la “critica della ragione storica
”, trans. by B. Giordano, in «BCSV»,
XXII-XXIII, 1992-1993, pp. 103-117, pp. 116-117.
152
Under this Axiom, in § 163, he makes the epexegetical statement, noted
in footnote 140 above, about Axioms V-XV as belonging to the
true,
i.e. “phi-
losophy”; he then characterizes Axioms XV[I]-XXII as «the foundations of
the certain»; by using the contrasting term
certain
, he identifies them as part of
what he considers “philology”. He further draws this distinction by adding:
«By their use we shall be able to see
in fact
this world of nations which we have
studies
in idea
» (italics added, but the original Italian «
in fatti»
and «
in idea
» are
in italics. See
La Scienza nuova
.
Le tre edizioni
, cit., p. 865). The Marsh transla-
tion of
Scienza nuova
paraphrases this passage as follows: «Axioms 16-22 […]
we shall use to interpret the world of nations in its historical reality, just as we
have contemplated it in its ideal form».
It is at this point, in connection with the topic of the
certain
, that Vico
credits Bacon with «the best ascertained method of philosophizing (giusta il
metodo di filosofare
più accertato)», with specific reference to Bacon’s methodo-
logical treatise
Cogitata et visa
. We will leave aside the possible word play on
certain
/
ascertained
(
certo
/
accertato
). According to Rossi (
Francis Bacon
, cit., pp.
205-207), Bacon proposed, and developed (in his entire
oeuvre
), a «theory of
natural classifications for the organization and ordering of instances to enable
the intellect to find its way through nature’s chaos and profusion». Vico clear-
ly had such a «natural classification» in mind when he contrasted Bacon’s «in-
stitutions of nature» with his own «civil institutions of mankind».
Furthermore, there is another important aspect or feature of Bacon’s phi-
losophy of science that has a bearing on Vico’s approach, as explained by
Rossi: «The traditional method, writes Bacon, skips from a smattering of sen-
sually perceived particulars to the most generalized conclusions and then in-