Giovanni Battista Vico (1668–1744)

Giovanni Battista Vico (1668–1744)

• Neapolitan philosopher, historian, and jurist

• Goal was to recognize in history meaningful

general patterns.

• Vico best-known for verum factum principle

– first formulated in 1710 in De Italorum Sapientia.

• truth is verified through creation or invention and not, as per

Descartes, through observation:

– “The criterion and rule of the true is to have made it.

Accordingly, our clear and distinct idea of the mind cannot be a

criterion of the mind itself, still less of other truths. For while the

mind perceives itself, it does not make itself.”

– SO: history is what the human mind constructs of the

past, NOT the past itself.

Vico’s cycles of History

• Civilizations develop in a recurring cycle

(ricorso) of three ages:

– the divine,

– the heroic,

– and the human.

– In each of these stages, the way that we

communicate shapes the age

Vico’s Divine Age

• Divine Age Language:

– we use metaphor

• God is our father

• we are God’s children

• we are God’s family

Enlightenment Historiography

Enlightenment Historiography

Readings:

• Giambattista Vico, The New Science

(1725)

• Edward Gibbon, The Decline And Fall of

The Roman Empire (1776, 1781)

• Leopold von Ranke,”Author’s Preface,” to

The History of the Reformation in

Germany (1839-47)

Approaching Enlightenment

Historians…

• Classical Historiography

– transition from “storytelling” to use of

documents (especially for Tacitus, who had

access to Roman imperial archives)

– but main focus was on the meaning of Being

Greek (or Athenian, or Roman)

Approaching Enlightenment

Historians…

• Medieval and Renaissance Historiography

– Dominated by Church history (ecclesiastical

histories)

– But with Renaissance, “rebirth” of secular

histories

RENAISSANCE HISTORIOGRAPHY

RENAISSANCE HISTORIOGRAPHY

• Resurgence of learning based on classical

sources

• Intensified study of Greek and Roman literature

• and the renewal of rhetorical education that

characterized intellectual life in 15th-century Italy

– had an effect on historical study

• encouraged a secular and realistic approach to political

history,

• both ancient and modern.

Re-Birth of Classical History

• Leonardo Bruni of Florence (15th century)

– rediscovered the works of Tacitus

– used them to write a history Republican and imperial

Rome

• to argue that his native Florence was the heir to the Roman

Tradition

• NICCOLÒ MACHIAVELLI (16th century)

– wrote works/histories that described political history

as taking place in a world bounded by human laws

and human ambitions (not by God or the Church)

• Separation of ecclesiastical from secular

materials of history evident wherever

Renaissance learning had influence in Europe.

Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)

• Florentine political philosopher, musician,

poet, historian, and romantic comedic

playwright.

• Machiavelli was also a key figure in realist

political theory,

– crucial to European statecraft during the

Renaissance.

– (and today: Realpolitik draws from The

Prince)

MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC HISTORIANS

MEDIEVAL ISLAMIC HISTORIANS

• Medieval Islamic historians

– such as al-Tabari and al-Masudi

– wrote histories of great scope,

– often employing sophisticated methods to

separate fact from fable.

• By far the greatest medieval Arabic

historian was Ibn Khaldun

Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406)

• Created an early version of sociological

history

– Wished to account for the rise and decline of

cities and civilizations.

– Approach was essentially cyclical

– But also document based

– A continuation and sophistication of Tacitus

and the Classical tradition.

Khaldun’s prehistory

• Arab historian born in Tunis.

• Received a classical Arabic education

– studying the Qur'an and Arabic linguistics,

• the basis for an understanding of the Qur'an and of Islamic

law.

HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES AND RENAISSANCE

 HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE

AGES AND RENAISSANCE

Readings

• Procopius, The Secret History (550 CE)

• Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical

History (325 )

• Augustine of Hippo, The City of God (413-

26)

• Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah (1377)

• Niccolo Machiavelli, The History of

Florence (1525)

• Jean Bodin, Method for the Easy

Comprehension of History (1566)

Middle Ages Historiography

• What are the Middle Ages?

– Between the Classical and the Renaissance

• Dates: from fall of Western Roman Empire (5th

century) to beginning of Early Modern Period (16th

century)

– Sometimes referred to as Medieval period or

“The Dark Ages”

Famous People Death places

Famous People Death places

Places	Persons
Bardoli	Sardar Patel
Belur	Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
Brindaban (U.P.)	Lord Krishna
Chittor, Haldighat	Rana Pratap
Corsica, Elba, Wateriloo	Napoleon
Fathepur Sikri	Akbar the Great
Jerusalem	Jesus Christ
Kapilavastu, Lumbini	Buddha
Kanchipuram	C.N. Annadurai
Macedonia	Alexander, the Great
Maniyachi	Vanchinathan
Mecca	Mohammed the Prophet
Paunar	Acharya Vinoba Bhave
Pondicherry	Aurobindo Ghosh
Porbandar, Rajghat, Sabarmathi	Mahatma Gandhi
Srirangapattinam	Tipu Sultan
Sriperumpudur	Rajiv Gandhi
Shakti Sthal	Indira Gandhi
Shanti Van	Jawaharlal Nehru
Trafalgar	Nelson
Tuticorin	V.O. Chidambaram Pillai
Ujjain	Mahavira
Vedaranyam	C. Rajagopalachari
Vijay Ghat	Lal Bahadur Shastri

Subhash Chandra Boss
Bose, Subhash Chandra : better known as Netaji of Azad Hind Fauj
(Indian National Army,INA), was a powerful nationalist
leader and was also once elected President of the Indian National
Congress. He gained much prominence for organising INA during
world war II.
In his speech, while inaugurating the Azad Hind Fauj in Singapore, he
gave a stirring call to his soldiers &endash; “Give me blood and I shall
give you freeedom”.
Rightly called the Beacon of light of Asia, he was the first to address
Mahatma Gandhi as Father of the Nation.
In a message to Gandhiji, in a broadcast from Azad Hind Radio, Ran-
goon, on July 8, 1944, he said&endash; “Father of our Nation! In this
holy war of India’s liberation, we ask you for your blessings and good
wishes”.
Mahatma Gandhi described him as Patriot of Patriots
The ashes of Subhash Chandra Bose are kept in Renkoji temple in
Tokyo.