Zeal For Truth

This is part 1 in a series comparing the Italian Philosopher Giambattista Vico’s understanding of providence with that of John Calvin’s understanding. Vico is for the vast majority of people an obscure philosopher, but his thoughts on providence, and why he holds to the view he does, are worth examining. All quotes from Vico are from his New Science, while all quotes from Calvin are from his Institutes of Christian Religion.

One of the major themes throughout Vico’s The New Science is providence. It is important to understand his philosophy of providence (even though it is not always the easiest idea to understand) since it effects all other areas of his philosophy. Because Vico does not systematically set out his understanding of providence, but instead threads it throughout his discussions of history, freedom, and God - great care is needed to understand exactly what is meant in regards to providence and the implications that follow from it.

To aid in this task, it is useful to compare his understanding of providence with another philosopher who also has a robust, but more systematic understanding, of it. Within this essay, John Calvin will be used to fulfill this task. Comparing Vico’s and Calvin’s views will not only be philosophically interesting but theologically as well. Although both were Christian philosophers/theologians, Vico was a Renaissance Catholic writer whose lived from 1668-1744, while Calvin was a Protestant Reformer who lived from 1509-1564.

Providence in Vico - Progress Through Institutions
To begin to understand the concept of providence in Vico, one must first determine the purpose it serves within his philosophy. One of the main questions in The New Science is how civilizations arise, fall and arise again; in essence, he is trying to understand how civil society progresses. To do this, he believes that an understanding of providence is necessary, he even lays out his task as setting up “a rational civil theology of divine providence” (Vico 342).

Why does he need a philosophy of providence to achieve this? Many people today look to economic, sociological, technological, or cultural factors to understand the progression of civilizations without reference to providence. Unlike many contemporary writers, Vico is working within the framework of historic Christianity, and therefore must deal with a biblical anthropology. Civilizations are made up of humans, and according to Christianity those humans are in a fallen state. As Vico explains;

But men, because of their corrupt nature, are under the tyranny of self-love, which compels them to make private utility their chief guide. Seeking everything useful for themselves and nothing for their companions, they cannot bring their passions under control to direct them towards justice. (Vico 341)

A corrupt civilization left to their own devices would not progress, but degrade. Vico recognizes this, but sees a solution in divine providence. Mankind is not left to their own devices but God, through divine providence, aids mankind (Vico 136). It is therefore divine providence that allows a civilization to avoid self-destruction, move forward, and be just, which why it is so central to Vico’s thought. Providence therefore has worked throughout the history of the world by allowing humans to develop institutions that moved our civilizations forward (Vico 342). This providence is not personal, and is difficult to see in the moment, but when Vico looks back at history he believes that one can see how providence worked through ordinary action to bring history to the point it is now at. In this brief sketch of Vico’s understanding of providence there is much that is similar in a broad sense to how Calvin understands providence, but when the details are sorted out the ideas diverge in important ways.

Calvin’s Providence - God “Holds the Helm”
Like Vico, Calvin takes the biblical story of the fall of mankind from perfection to a corrupt nature seriously; “All this being admitted, it will be beyond dispute, that free will does not enable any man to perform good works, unless he is assisted by grace…” (Calvin II. II. VI.) Unlike Vico’s work, Calvin’s main concern in The Institutes of Christian Religion is not an understanding of how civilizations work, but an exposition of the Christian faith. However the question of government is not far from his mind (Calvin II. II. III.), and he therefore understands the implications of this biblical anthropology as well as Vico does.

As with Vico, Calvin also sees providence as a way of overcoming man’s corrupt nature, however the divergence between Vico and Calvin can already be begun to be seen on this point. In book one, chapter 16 of The Institutes of Christian Religion Calvin defines providence;

First, then, let the reader remember that the providence we mean is not one by which the Deity, sitting idly in heaven, looks on at what is taking place in the world, but one by which he, as it were, holds the helm, and overrules all events. (Calvin I. XVI. IV.)

For Calvin, providence involves God watching over, and controlling all things that take place in the world. It is not that God’s providence allows humans to do good as Vico holds, but that it is God who does the good in spite of humanity. Both views use a kind of providence to overcome the problem of how a corrupt civilization can bring about good things, but uses that providence in radically different ways which will be explored further next time.

To be continued in part 2