Wisdom And Society In Vico’s Sixth Oration

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to discuss the interaction between social life and wisdom, in Vico's Sixth Inaugural Oration. This oration is a posthumous text that already brought some aspects of his theory on the relationship between knowledge and its context. Divided in two parts by Vico, the first deals with the studies finalities and, in the rest, examines the method of studies. In this article, we will analyze the studies finalities that relate the return caused by that the lack of eloquence with selfishness and social disruption, represented by the biblical punishment of Nimrod's descendants; and we will analyze the social changes that are promoted by wisdom, capitalized in the stories of Orpheus and Amphion, in the opposite way, which present a picture of human beings who leave loneliness for life in society. In the Sixth Oration, Vico associate the elements of language, morals and wisdom with social life. In this way, Vico portrays the social relevance of wisdom when discussing the finalities and method of studies using biblical and mythological examples.