Knowledge of Things Human and Divine. Vico´s New Science and Finn

This text examines in full the interconnections between Giambattista Vico´s "New Science" and James Joyce´s "Finnegans Wake". Maintaining that Joyce is the greatest modern "interpreter" of Vico, Donald Phillip Verene demonstrates how images from Joyce´s work offer keys to Vico´s philosophy. Verene presents the entire course of Vico´s philosophical thought as it develops in his major works, with Joyce´s words and insights serving as a guide.The book devotes a chapter to each period of Vico´s thought, from his early orations on education to his anti-Cartesian metaphysics and his conception of universal law, culminating in his new science of the history of nations. Verene analyses Vico´s major works, including all three editions of the "New Science". The volume also features a detailed chronology of the philosopher´s career, historical illustrations related to his works and an extensive bibliography of Vico scholarship and all English translations of his writings.