Christopher D. Owens

5/3/19

MAJ Iten

English

HR:

Word count: 1821

Research Argument

 

Introduction

 

Giambattista Vico is a philosopher from Naples. Born in 1968-1774 Vico was a famous Italian humanist writer. Vico taught himself law, and literature. Vico was one of the most important enlightenment thinkers of his time. Vico consider himself a teacher of himself after a severe fall at the age of seven years old. Under the direction of his father Vico grew to teach and soon left home several years later to be a tutor. Vico was pretty keen to the works of logic. He took particular interest in the histories of logic. Vico also took interest in the rhetoric of thought. Unlike his counterparts Vico didn’t take the same optimistic ideas of the natural science and the assumption of absolute truth. Vico was more concerned with the civic discourse. He believes that we spend way too much time trying to uncover and understand absolute truths. Martin Luther King Jr said it best, “And so we shall have to do more than register and vote; we shall create leaders who embody virtues we can respect, who have moral and ethical principles we can applaud to with enthusiasm.” Vico’s “On the Study Methods of Our Time” takes a particular look on this issue at hand. It covers all the methods and procedures of the ancients (those that came before us) It takes a look on how influential and also how ineffective their means of discovering truths of the world are. Like Vico there are others who share the common ground with the great philosopher. Vico argues how language is important and how all knowledge even scientific is based on argument and convection.

On the study of our methods

In “on the study Methods of our Time” Vico seeks to reconcile humanism with a more modern outlook on sciences.  He takes a look on the ancients the ones that came before us. He believes that  the greatest drawback of our educational methods  is that “we pay an excessive amount of attention to the natural sciences and not enough to ethics”.( Bizzell 871) “Vico employs rhetoric as the epistemological basis for inquiry and argument”.(Schaeffer 152)  During this time period there was the only approach of cartesian methods. It was the only educational methods that were looked upon and valued. Vico solemnly believed that knowledge played a key role in the involvement of understanding that of rhetoric. “The first is a “bestial” condition, from which emerges “the age of the gods,” in which man is ruled by fear of the supernatural. “The age of heroes” is the consequence of alliances formed by family leaders to protect against internal dissent and external attack; in this stage, society is rigidly divided into patricians and plebeians.” (Britannica) This quote signifies how society during the time was mainly focused on the sciences. They feared science more than real problems that they could control.  He believed that one must possess a good sense of language in order to thrive in the community. Because of the worlds innate concern with the natural sciences and not a strong look on language and how to communicate the world is suffering in the matter of civic discourse. “our young men, because of their training, which is focused on these studies, are unable to engage in the life of the community, to conduct themselves with sufficient wisdom and prudence”. (Bizzell 872)

“Vico relates imagination and language to the life of a given human community”. (Schaeffer 152) Vico inserts himself and puts priority on “sensus communis” which is a moral sense which founds the community.

Language is primary to Vico

Vico goes in depth to explain what truth means to him. “The astute ignoramus, who is able to grasp particular truths but incapable of conceiving a general truth, finds cleverness, Which is useful to him today, may be harmful to him tomorrow”.(Bizzell 872) This quote suggests the one that keeps his eyes open on the obvious and not just the facts is the one who will not be blinded what is truth. “But the sage who, through all obliquities and uncertainties of human actions and events, keeps his eye steadily focused on eternal truth, manages to follow a roundabout way whenever he cannot travel in a straight line, and make decisions, in the field  of action, which, in the course of time, prove to be as profitable as the nature of things permits.” (Bizzell 872) Vico argues here that the doctrines judge human actions as they ought to be not as they actually are. “His claim is that there is a direct relationship between the development of human society and the development of language.” (Craig 10) Vico described human societies as “passing through stages of growth and decay.” (Britannica) what Vico means by this is that the world is growing and dying at the same time. Without the use of language, the world is in a state of decay. But with the right notion of understanding the importance of language the world can truly prosper. Vico also ties language with eloquence and education. It is primitive that throughout the two stages of eloquence and education that the use of correct language is key. Essentially without language there will be no use for education and eloquence.

Vico on eloquence

Vico believes the role of eloquence is to persuade the desired audience. “The answer is that eloquence does not address itself to the rational part of nature, but almost entirely to our passions”. (Bizzell 873) Vico states here that eloquence deals with passions and you must appeal and believe to persuade your audience. If you cannot asses their desires or passions than you cannot convince them. The definition of eloquence is fluent or persuasive speaking or writing. Therefore, Vico says this “unless the speaker can compass these three things: passion, love and belief, he has not achieved the effect of persuasion; he is powerless to convince.” (Bizzell 873) This shows that persuasion ties in with eloquence. Nor can they invert the order of words, nor can the amplify or elevate their discourse.” (Bizzell 874) What Vico means by this comment is due to the lack of the French eloquence on that of the notion of language they cannot properly adhere to their language. “It does not supply us with that “middle term” where the extreme points of metaphor are able to meet and unite. It is therefore impossible in French for a single noun to be the vehicle of a metaphor.” (Bizzell 874) Vico also believes that eloquent goes hand in hand with law and teaching. He believes that both law and teaching there has to be an orator and that’s how it fits in the scheme of rhetoric discourse.  “Eloquence requires one to speak fully on a subject, to present all of its aspects in a complete speech conveying to the hearers all that the speaker has conceived in his mind.” (Bayer 1135) Pretty much what Vico is trying to get at is that to show eloquence one must fully understand the discourse and subject which that the rhetor is speaking on. Vico also looks on Ciceronian view on the conclusion to his seventh orata

tion. “Eloquence requires copia, as it brings together many aspects of a

subject, but it differs from elegance in that eloquent speech is a presentation of the whole, whereas elegant speech refers to the fineness of the phraseology used” ( Bayer 1135) Vico believes that “eloquence allows the thinker to communicate his discoveries to an audience, to present wisdom in its proper form and to avoid simply the juggling of words.” (Bayer 1135)

Vico and Education

Vico once being an educator values education. “He insists that education ought not to be merely concerned with “empty erudition.” (Craig 10) Vico believes that we must educate our young men so that they learn from our past grievances says Vico. To Vico education is not some stagnate activity that you can take part in.  He also believes that a child’s education should first begin with language. Vico views education as essentially a moral activity. “Educators need to assess the moral levels of their students so as to encourage a moral atmosphere in the classroom.” (Craig 10) What Craig interprets from Vico is that educators need to learn their students’ ideas and surround knowledge and education based off what they know. “the development of language is a moral educational enterprise and he strongly encouraged the study of language at an early point in the child’s education.” (Craig 10) Because of the idea that its pivotal for language to be introduced into a child’s education early in life is why Vico so heartily wants children’s first notion of education in the method of language. Vico also argues that “through education intellectual capacities are developed in separate ways. The capacity of memory is developed studying languages. He also thinks that imagination grows from reading poets and historians: and perception develops through the study of plane geometry, for instance not one subject, such as logic, will ensure the complete intellectual development of the student.” (Craig 10) what Vico means by this is that human nature and intelligence or intellect is unfolding, and this is what makes up for the total intellectual development of the student. This means Vico had a holistic viewpoint on education, that it is compartmentalized on stages. To Vico these very stages are key to developing the student.

Conclusion

Giambattista Vico was very passionate about the study of rhetoric. He was very hyper critical of his predecessors that came before him. Vico`s impenetrable taste for the use of logic and reasoning behind rhetoric is what made him so unique and special. “On the study of our methods” is one of his most important works. Vico shed light on something that many rhetoricians haven’t been taking seriously. Vico was correct that language is important and that we spend way too much time trying to understand absolute truths. He shifted the community ideas from the thought of science to the importance of civic discourse. That the public should understand language and how important it is, and also the importance of eloquence and education. He does a good job of expressing why language should be the first thing that one should be taught on the basis of education. Ultimately civic discourse is important in order for the world to fully develop and progress. Eloquence and understanding how to inform a desired audience on a desired issue. Knowing how to properly convey their message through the use of language. All in all the three things that Vico hit hard on (education, language, eloquence) all are pivotal to civic discourse. All three things go hand in hand with one another. Because of Vico civic life will continue improve and our study methods will evolve with it. Not only looking at sciences but seeing rhetorical discourse as something we need to value as well. Something that is more important than absolute truths.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

 

Bizzell,Patricia and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical tradition. “On the Study Methods of our Time” Beaford St Mark (2007)

 

Chaix-Ruy, Jules-Marie. “Giambattista Vico.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 19 Jan. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Giambattista-Vico#ref32435.

 

Craig, Robert. “Vico as Educator: Values, Self-Development, and Systhesis.” Journal of Thought, vol. 28, no. 1/2, 1993, pp. 7–12. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42589343.

 

Schaeffer, John D. “Vico’s Rhetorical Model of the Mind: ‘Sensus Communis’ in the ‘De Nostri Temporis Studiorum Ratione.’” Philosophy & Rhetoric, vol. 14, no. 3, 1981, pp. 152–167. JSTOR,

 

Thora I. Bayer, Vico’s Principle of Sensus Communis and Forensic Eloquence, 83 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 1131 (2008).