“L’altare che sostiene il globo”: la Scienza Nuova come teologia civile

This paper aims to identify the meaning and significance that the expression “civil theology” assumes in Giambattista Vico’s Scienza Nuova. In particular, an attempt will be made to investigate the double meaning that “knowledge of some divinity” takes on in the work of the Neapolitan philosopher: one placeable on the level of principles and the other on the historical-factual level. The investigation will show that the Scienza Nuova presents itself as “civil theology” since only by thinking of it in these terms can Vico attempt to respond to the alleged rational self-foundation of politics and law and to the split between norm and fact, sustained as much by erudite libertinism as by modern contractualism and natural law.