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On the Study Methods of Our Time by Giambattista Vico; Elio GianturcoReview by: Thomas G. BerginThe Journal of Modern History, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Dec., 1968), pp. 691-692Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1878556 .

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Book Reviews 691in his field.When he does attempt o relatehismaterial o somegeneraltheory as, e.g., Tocquevilleon the effects f democratizingn officercorps, r Huntingtonn the virtues f military rofessionalisms a guar-antee of civilian ontrol n a democracy), e does so in a fashion hathistorians ill find timulatingnd useful.His conclusions boutthe fu-ture are cautiously ptimistic,houghhe believes that the danger ofpraetorianism ill survive s long as France lacks "a clear and abidingpublic ttachmento a stable onstitutionalramework"p. 374).

GORDONWRIGHTStanford niversityOn theStudyMethods fOurTime.ByGiambattistaico.Translated, ithan IntroductionndNotes,byElio Gianturco."The Library fLiberalArts," o. 153.)Indianapolis,nd.: Bobbs-Merrillo., 1965.Pp. xxxvii+98.$1.45The De temporistudiorumationewas a lecturegivenat the openingof theuniversityear n Naples in 1708 and published year ater.Ofthiswork,Vico himself ritesn hisautobiography:In theyear1708 theRoyalUniversityesolved o have a solemnpublic naugurationf studiesand to dedicate t to the kingwith an oration o be delivered n thepresence f CardinalGrimani, iceroy fNaples.The oration or hisoc-casionwas thereforeobe published,nditgaveVico a happy pportunityto devise an argumenthatshouldbring ome new and profitableis-covery o the world of letters-a desireworthyo be numberedmongthose of Bacon in his New Organ of the Sciences. t turnson theadvantagesnddisadvantagesf ourmanner fstudyings comparedwiththatof the ancientsn all branches f knowledge:whichdisadvantagesfourwaycould be avoided, ndbywhatmeans; nd as for heunavoidableones, bywhatadvantages f the ancientsheymight e compensatedsothatbyaddingonlya Plato,forexample, o whatwe possessbeyond heancients,we should have a completeuniversityf today); to the endthat all divine and human wisdomshouldeverywhereeignwithonespirit nd cohere n all itsparts, o thatthesciences end each otherhelping andandnone s a hindranceo anyother"p. 146,TheAutobiog-raphy fGiambattistaico Ithaca,N. Y., 1944]).Such is theauthor's wndefinitionf hiswork,which n facthardlydoes it ustice. he language nd style re academic, s was proper o theoccasion,and to our modern ars the effectmay even be described s"pedantic."For all that,the contents f the lecture re anythingut"stuffy."n thesebrief agesVico takes boldstand, evolutionaryor hetimes, n favor of factbefore heory, evelopmentf the inventivendimaginativeaculties efore hecritical r, one might aypractice eforepedantry. tudents f Vico's philosophicalrajectoryee in it the firstovert tatementf his anti-Cartesianosition, tudents f Vico toutcourtare fascinated y the preliminarylimmeringsf the independentndoriginal ositionobe laterdevelopedndsetforthntheNewScience. tis in fact,as Fausto Nicoliniwrote quoted approvingly y ProfessorGianturcon his concise nd valuable ntroduction),themost mportantpedagogic ssaybetween ocke's Thoughtsn Education 1693) and the

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692 Book ReviewsEmile (1762) ofRousseau." t is a fine hing o have it available n Eng-lish.For thetranslation,havenothingutadmiration.t cannothavebeenan easytask,forVico'sLatin s not ofthesimplestndcertain eywordsare hardtofind quivalentsor nmodernolloquial nglish.Givenpolem-ical intentor in a morevulgaranguage, taste ornit-picking),supposeone couldcarp at an occasionalword."Ratione" itselfs a slipperyne;does "methods"eallyhit t? notice n Bompiani's izionariodelleoperee deipersonaggit is translatedcriterio"; erhaps hemeanings "theory"or even"philosophy." utmethod s what Vico talksabout,and it doesverywell here. Gianturco's ranslations as scrupulous s one couldhopefor ndreadable, oo. n addition o theaforementionedntroduction,thebook contains sizablebibliography.ll in all we have here a finecontributiono thestudy fVicoforwhich suspectmany fus are grate-ful nthe nniversaryear1968. THOMASG. BERGINYale University