The visible does not deplete the sphere of brightness. Science and Magic between Vico and Xirau

Abstract

The last article published by Joaquin Xirau (actually published a few months posthumously), entitled Tres actitudes: poderío, magia e intelecto, was dedicated to the human being’s relationship with the world (even before a world exists). In it we perceive some profound and significant influence by the Italian philosopher Giambattista Vico, especially in relation to «magic». Xirau, a few years before writing this essay, wrote a review for the Spanish translation of the Scienza Nuova, a reading which results we present in this paper. The goal of this paper is to highlight such influences and to try to determine how Vico’s considerations on magic (that prevailed during the age of gods and heroes) had an influence on Xirau.

Keywords: Joaquim Xirau, Giambattista Vico, magic, axiology, hermeneutics, history of Spanish philosophy, history of Catalan philosophy.