Gennaro Maria Barbuto
Remarks on humanistic rhetoric in Hobbes’ Leviathan and in Vico’s 1744 edition of Scienza Nuova
Abstract
Informations and abstract
Keywords: Hobbes, Vico, humanistic rhetoric, human society
Based on a thorough investigation of historiographical works, the essay focuses on the relationship between Vico and Hobbes, looking at their divergent approaches to humanistic rhetoric. On the one hand, humanistic rhetoric is excluded from the epistemological framework of Hobbes’ masterpiece, Leviathan, although the author had addressed it in previous studies; on the other hand, in his New Science Vico considers humanistic rhetoric a crucial heuristic resource for understanding the origins of human society.