Giambattista Vico
1668 - 1744
5
Quotes
Biography
Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) was an Italian philosopher, historian, and jurist. He is best known for his work 'The New Science' (1725), where he proposed a cyclical theory of history and argued for the importance of studying human history in order to understand the laws governing societies. Vico emphasized the role of language, culture, and mythology in shaping human behavior and believed that civilizations go through distinct stages of development. His ideas had a significant influence on later philosophers and intellectuals.
Famous Quotes (5)
1
The nature of nations is to form and grow by means of metaphors.
2
The criterion and rule of the true is to have made it. Accordingly, our clear and distinct idea of the mind cannot be a criterion of the mind itself, still less of other truths. For while the mind perceives itself, it does not make itself.
3
The ideal of the republic is diversity of human character, and hence the preservation of individuality.
4
Certum est quia impossibile est (It is certain because it is impossible).
5
We should not so much look at what a man has said, as at what he has done.