An Exposition of Constructivism: Why Some Like it Radical

When the Neapolitan philosopher Giambattista Vico published his treatise on the construction of knowledge,† it triggered quite a controversy in the Giornale de’Letterati d’Italia, one of the most prestigious scholarly journals at the time. This was in the years 1710–1712. The first reviewer, who remained anonymous, had carefully read the treatise and was obviously shocked by the implications it had for traditional epistemology—all the more so because, as he conceded, the arguments showed great learning and were presented with elegance. He was therefore impelled to question Vico’s position, and he very politely suggested that one thing was lacking in the treatise: the proof that what it asserted was true.