Giambattista Vico and the Problem of Method between Rhetoric and Experimentalism

This paper analyses some of the major issues discussed by Vico in his Denostri temporis studiorum ratione. Focusing especially on the books VII and X, thisresearch examines the specific problem of Vico’s comparison between the method ofthe ‘Ancients’ – or topica – and that of the ‘Moderns ’ – or critica. From this perspective, the study retraces the question of method exposed by Vico through the discussions conducted within the Accademia of Investiganti, and through the humanistic rhetoricheritage. Vico’s proposition to the problem of education and earning is thus examined; his solution shows how it is possible to conciliate the ratio critica and the ratio topica. The study therefore underlines how Vico can reintroduce the rhetorical topica method in Naples’ Cartesian debate context