Note about the metaphor of the architect and the artisan in the New Science of 1725

Abstract

In the first New Science (1725), Vico employs the metaphor of the architect and the artisan (fabbro) to clarify the relationship between divine providence and human free will. This image, rooted in a long philosophical tradition, is introduced in order to delineate the boundaries within which the two «principles» –non-contradictory and equally indispensable– governing the evolution of the civil world operate. Yet it becomes evident that the «particular ends» motivating human action possess only an apparent autonomy, since they are subordinated to a «universal end» pre-established by providence. Indeed, the architectural art exemplifies a dominion of form that both distinguishes itself from and rises above a material competence –what Aristotle called the “poetic” art (ποιητικὴ τέχνη) – which in Vico corresponds to the artisan’s capacity to shape matter. The disappearance of this metaphor in the later versions of the New Science, where the relation between providence and human free will is instead explained through the concept of conatus, reveals one of the most significant speculative tensions running through Vico’s thought.