Vico’s Social Theory
Vico’s Social Theory
The Conundrum of the Roman Metropolis and the Struggle of Humanity for Natural Rights
This chapter considers both the legal aspirations and jurisprudential works of Vico, and reconstructs his first full-blown account of Roman law and society in light of the jurisprudential tastes of his target audience, the leading members of the Neapolitan judiciary. It begins with an ample reconstruction of Vico's life and work between the publication of his last inaugural address, the De ratione (1709), and the drafting of his legal treatise known as the Diritto universal. It then identifies Vico's motivations for undertaking a legal treatise, and reconstructs the publication history and reception of both De uno (1720) and De Constantia (1721). The third section of this chapter reconstructs Vico's unique history of Rome, which made novel claims about the origins and laws of development characteristic of cities and, by analogy, world polities.
Keywords: Roman law, Roman society, Neapolitan judiciary, Vico's works, publication history, Rome, world polities
Cornell Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
