The De antiquissima sapientia Italorum (1710) links philosophy to philology in order to fight against Descartes. We know that this fight will last for fifteen years and that the Scienza nuova (1725) will be the final attack. We also know, via B. Croce and Windelband, that Vico’s battle will never stop : it comes from Plato and Aristotle, via scottist and ockhamist schools, and will be carry on by Marsile Ficin and Cardan. That is to say that Vico opens a sort of second tradition the aim of which is to free modern philosophy from its cartesian limits by drawing on the wealth of languages. So Vico is, in fact, “der Altvater”.

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