Being noted as an Anti-Cartesian and an Anti-Enlightenment, Vico’s ideas and works are in many ways different from Descartes’s works. Their main contrast is on their view of the world, and some metaphysical views of substance (or world). However, Vico shared similar parts while draws broader investigations on the study methods or methodology for true knowledge.
It is essential to compare their approaches for true knowledge or truths. For Descartes, his approach to obtaining true knowledge is to doubt everything he could be able to understand. According to Descartes, ‘Anything that could be found with even the slightest doubt I will set aside just as if I had found it to be wholly false; and I will proceed in this way until I recognize something certain, or, if nothing else, until I at least recognize for certain that there is nothing certain.’ (Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy) In this way, Descartes regards things that remained in any space to be criticized are decisive and unreliable knowledge and only things that could not be doubted by him in any way are true knowledge. Then, in a further argument, Descartes introduces a principle of true knowledge that ‘everything that could be perceived clearly and distinctively is in fact true.’ (Descartes, Meditations) By this principle, Descartes rejects the usefulness and value of rhetoric which is a usual ancient approach, and experience or imagination. This is because if something that is already been perceived with clearness and distinctiveness, the utilization of rhetoric would be a redundancy as the knowledge is already persuasive and definite true while being perceived clearly. Also, it would also not be useful for rhetoric while one could not perceive something clearly and distinctively because the idea is already proved to false while could not be perceived clearly, and persuasive rhetoric could not be formed. Then, Descartes could reject rhetoric as a useful instrument for true knowledge approaching. Also, Descartes rejects the usefulness of experience and imagination by using a ‘sleeping-dreaming’ example. He denotes the experience of awakeness in dreams is the same as it shows in awaked reality. (Descartes, Meditations) This, in Descartes View, becomes one reason to abandon experience and imagination as tools during his approaches. However, Descartes is aiming to obtain true knowledge by conceptual thinking, with the tool of doubting everything. He claims ‘I think, therefore I am.’ (Descartes, Meditations) to prove his existence. This is because Descartes considers that he must exist as something so that he could be able to think for his existence, and he could only be sure of in what way he exists is that he is ‘something that thinks’.
Vico’s view of the study method, what Vico denotes as ‘instruments’, of true knowledge is discussed in his work ‘On the study method of our time’. There are three elements for studying method: instrument which is the systematic order by which the course progress, aids which are the methods that could be employed, and aim which is the purpose of the study. He considered the effectiveness of both rhetoric and imagination of which are ancient instruments, and Descartes’ method of philosophical critique. He considers Descartes’ instrument as ‘philosophical critique’–finding a weakness to undermine the foundations of ideas. Vico praised the usefulness of the method especially in geometric fields, or subjects in science. He also acts as a defender of ancient instrument rhetoric and imagination. Vico denotes the ancient instruments as ‘art of topics’ (Vico, Ancient Study). This is such an art that imagination is provoked so that connections are found between ideas. Vico claims also, following an ancient Aristotelean logic, that imagination being a special ancient instrument would function as middle terms in a way that one syllogism is drawn for two ideas. (Vico, Ancient Study) Then, another ancient instrument rhetoric is utilized by the speaker to persuade the audience for the connections. Thus, one connection between different ideas which form a new idea is proved and obtained with correctness.
Vico praised both Descartes instrument philosophical critique and ancient instruments. He draws a final conclusion that both instruments are useful so that both instruments should be employed in a way for obtaining true knowledge. (Vico, Ancient Study) Because Descartes Philosophical critique is aiming to attack and doubt on foundations of prior ideas or knowledge, it relies on largely on prior ideas or knowledge. No critiques could be made without the existence of prior ideas and knowledge, and it also limits one’s ability for obtaining new truth as it could only omit wrong, previously existed knowledge or ideas. Thus, he denies Descartes’s principle that what he could not distinctively and clearly is true, and considers there is a defect of his instruments. The defect is that, by Descartes’s method, one could not be able to explore new knowledge or use ‘poetic wisdom’ (which means creativity). (Vico, New Science). Moreover, this method is considered to be ineffective in solving moral problems Thus, to solve such limitations, Vico’s method is the employment of ancient instrument imagination so that new ideas could be formed by the connections of different ideas. Thus, Vico claims the best method of education, which he claims as an extension, is to teach students imagination first and then use philosophical critiques. He supports such methods by arguing the nature of children to be fulfilled with imaginations. For the best study method and approaches for truths that Vico emphasizes is to utilize the imagination firstly so that new ideas are discovered. Then, one needs to utilize rhetoric in order to make the connection persuasive. Then, Descartes’s instrument of philosophical critique should be employed for revising and checking the idea so that truth could be obtained.
The other aspect that Vico and Descartes are in large contrast is their view of the world. Descartes views the being of God as supremely good and with omnipresent power. (Descartes, Meditations) In addition, his truth principle that ‘non-existence is an imperfection’ and ‘everything that could be clearly perceived is true’ (Descartes, Meditations), could then prove that God does exist as a supremely good and with omnipresent power. Then, God being supremely good is to say that God would not deceive for good. Thus, what one is able to perceive clearly and distinctively is in fact true. Then, Descartes shows his view of the world is such that God made such a world (what Vico considers as Natural World) is certain and only God has the power to understand it. On the other hand, the human world, which is cultural and ideas or other human results denoted by Vico, is not certain. Also, for Descartes’s metaphysical view of the world, he is a dualist that there are only two true substances in the world, one is matter containing rocks, animals, plants, and colors, and the other is mind (or thinking) containing thoughts. Thus, his view of the human being is a matter that occupies space and has the ability to think.
Vico’s view of the world, on the other hand, is directly opposite to Descartes’s. His view is directed by the ‘Verum-Factum’ principle, which is mainly discussed in the last part. This principle means that one could only be able to understand the truth in what one makes. (Vico, Ancient Wisdom) Vico suggests that the human world that is made and created by humans containing nations, cultures, and all man-made things is certain. This follows the ‘Verum-factum’ principle that humans are the cause of the human world so that it is certain. Then, the natural world of which God being the cause is not certain for humans as it is created by God. By using such a theorem, Vico rejects Descartes’s recognition of existence. By ‘I think therefore I am’, one could not understand his existence as he is not the cause of his existence.
Citations:
- Descartes, René. 1986. Meditations on First Philosophy. Arete Press (Claremont, CA).
- Vico, Giambattista. 1988. On the Most Ancient Wisdom of the Italians. Cornell University Press.
- Vico, Giambattista. 2018. On the Study Methods of Our Time. Cornell University Press.
- Vico, Giambattista. New Science. Penguin UK, 1999.’
- Zhitu, Wuchi. “历史哲学之父维科: 人是历史的创造者.” Zhihu. Accessed March 27, 2021. https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/88492747.
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