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Article: Vico, Giovanni Battista (Giambattista Vico; 1668–1744)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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VICO, GIOVANNI BATTISTA (Giambattista Vico; 1668
–
1744)
VICO, GIOVANNI BATTISTA
(Giambattista Vico; 1668
–
1744), Italian philosopher of history, law, and culture. Vico was born in Naples on the eve of the Feast of St. John the Baptist (23 June). He lived all his life in and near Naples, where his father was the proprietor of a small bookshop, above which the family lived in a single room. Vico's mother was illiterate. In a society dominated by wealth, political power, aristocracy, and clergy, Vico was self-made and self-taught. From grammar school on he spent only short periods in formal instruction. The center of his mature education was a self-devised program of reading ...