Giambattista Vico

Giambattista Vico (1668–1744) was an Italian philosopher and scholar from Naples. He studied law and philosophy and became professor of rhetoric at the University of Naples in 1699. In 1710 he published De antiquissima Italorum sapientia, a work opposing the dominance of Cartesian philosophy. His major work, Scienza nuova, first appeared in 1725. In it, Vico developed a theory of cyclical cultural development and argued that history was the primary subject of human knowledge. In 1735 he was appointed historiographer to the King of Naples. Alongside his academic work, he devoted extended periods to self-study and withdrew from public life for that purpose.