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Rediscovering Aarsleff versus Berlin
Aarsleff’s death recalls his 1981 LRB clash with Berlin over Vico: Berlin claimed vast originality; Aarsleff traced Vico’s ideas to Locke, Condillac, and Leibniz. The “dilemma of Vico studies” still shapes the field.
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Fantasia and the Machine: Vico’s Challenge to Artificial Intelligence
Andrea Sartori argues that Eighteenth-century Neapolitan philosopher Giambattista Vico offers a timely framework for understanding artificial intelligence. Where AI simulates human language and creativity, Vico reminds us that genuine intelligence is embodied, metaphorical, and biological. Rather than mechanizing humanity, AI invites us to rediscover what makes human fantasia irreducibly alive.
