Vico: the Other Face of Modernity

Abstract

Giambattista Vico’s work is generally presented as a counterpoint to Cartesian rationalism and as a precursor of constructivism and historicism. However, Vico can also be interpreted from an ontological perspective, emphasizing a Christian approach that reconfigures metaphysics through history, in which God is the true knower of truth. In a postmodern era in search of certainty, Vico’s thought offers an “other face” of modernity that integrates the ontological, placing history and culture at the center of our interpretation of the world.