Vico's "New Science"

Written by the noted Vico scholar Donald Phillip Verene, this commentary can be read as an introduction to Vico's thought or it can be employed as a guide to the comprehension of specific sections of the New Science.

Donald Phillip Verene is Charles Howard Candler Professor of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy and Director of the Institute for Vico Studies at Emory University and a fellow of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. He is the author of books including Vico's "New Science": A Philosophical Commentary; Vico's Science of Imagination; and The Art of Humane Education; and he is the coeditor of Giambattista Vico: Keys to the "New Science", all from Cornell.

Donald Phillip Verene has proven mastery of every phase of Vico's thought, coupled with a deep interest in the classical and Renaissance theories of rhetoric that Vico drew on in the New Science. In this book, Verene's patient engagement with the whole of Vico's text is beguiling, allowing the structure of Vico's argument to emerge.

James Engell, Gurney Professor of English and Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University, author of The Committed Word: Literature and Public Values:

Vico's New Science is a book indispensable to anyone engaged with the collective intellectual life of Western culture. It continues to shape the study of history, linguistics, literature, rhetoric, anthropology, myth, religion, education, culture, and politics yes, all of these!. And if there is one book to read about Vico’s New Science, it is Donald Phillip Verene’s Vico’s "New Science": A Philosophical Commentary. Verene combines lucid explanation with expert knowledge and judgment. This is a complete, masterful treatment of Vico’s masterpiece. It covers difficult ground with great clarity and leads one back to its subject with fidelity, deeply assimilated scholarship, and wisdom. Anyone interested in humane culture will gain much from this volume.

Donald R. Kelley, James Westfall Thompson Professor of History Emeritus, Rutgers University, and former Executive Editor Journal of the History of Ideas:

Donald Phillip Verene is the world's leading scholar in English of Vico, and his philosophical commentary on Vico's New Science is excellent, exhaustive, even definitive. It summarizes, analyzes, and explains Vico's extraordinary work in a more comprehensive way than other books on this major philosopher and human scientist. By offering clear explanations and informed analyses, Verene has provided a singular companion to Vico's masterpiece.