On the Study Methods of Our Time

Giambattista Vico''s first original work of philosophy, On the Study Methods of Our Time (1708-9) takes up the contemporary "quarrel between the ancients and the moderns" and provides a highly interesting statement of the nature of humanistic education. This edition makes available again Elio Gianturco''s superb 1965 English translation of a work generally regarded as the earliest statement by Vico of the fundamentals of his position.

An important contribution to the development of the scientism-versus-humanism debate over the comparative merits of classical and modern culture, this book lays out Vico''s powerful arguments against the compartmentalization of knowledge which results from the Cartesian world view. In opposition to the arid logic of Cartesianism, Vico here celebrates the humanistic tradition and posits the need for a comprehensive science of humanity which recognizes the value of memory and imagination.

For this edition, Donald Phillip Verene has wri