MACMILLAN Giambattista Vico: Imagination and Historical Knowledge (Studies in Modern History)

The theories of language and society of Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) are examined in this textual analysis of the full range of his theoretical writings, with special emphasis on his little-known early works. Vico's fundamental importance in the history of European ideas lies in his strong anti-Cartesian, anti-French and anti-Enlightenment views. In an age in which intellectuals adopted a rational approach, Vico stressed the nonrational element in man - in particular, imagination - as well as social and civil relationships, none of them reducible to the scientific theories so popular in his time. From the Back Cover The theories of language and society of Giambattista Vico (1668-1744) are examined in this textual analysis of the full range of his theoretical writings, with special emphasis on his little known early works. Vico's fundamental importance in the history of European ideas lies in his strong anti-Cartesian, anti-French and anti-Enlightenment views. In an age in which intellectuals adopted a rational approach, Vico stressed the nonrational element in man - in particular, imagination - as well as social and civil relationships, none of them reducible to the scientific theories so popular in his time. The notions of imagination, language and historical consciousness constituted Vico's unique contribution to the history of ideas and laid the groundwork for subsequent inquiries into the history of ideas.