The Spectacle Of The Growth Of Knowledge And Swift S Satires On Science
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The Spectacle Of The Growth Of Knowledge And Swift S Satires On Science
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Author : Beat Affentranger
language : en
Publisher: Universal-Publishers
Release Date : 2000
The Spectacle Of The Growth Of Knowledge And Swift S Satires On Science written by Beat Affentranger and has been published by Universal-Publishers this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2000 with Literary Criticism categories.
This is a revisionist study of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century satires on science with an emphasis on the writings of Jonathan Swift and, to a lesser degree, Samuel Butler and other satirists. To say, as some literary commentators do, that the satirists attacked only pseudo-scientists who failed to employ the empirical method properly is to beg a crucial question: how could the satirists possibly have distinguished the genuine scientist from the crank? By a failsafe set of Baconian principles perhaps? No, the matter is more complicated. I read the satiric literature on early modern science against a totally different understanding of what science is, how it came into being, and how it developed. Satire has a decided advantage over scientific discourse. It can rely on common sense; scientific discourse often cannot. There is always a counter-intuitive element in the genuinely new. New knowledge is in some ways always at odds with received assumptions of what is possible, reasonable, or probable. Satire on science, I suggest, can be seen as a systematic exploitation of that gap of plausibility. Natural philosophers of the late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century were keenly aware of their discursive disadvantage and at times even hesitated to publish their material. They feared the satirists and the wits, who they knew would find it easy to debunk their work on commonsense grounds. But commonsense and laughter are unreliable yardsticks for measuring scientific merit. Ironically, the satirists and the natural philosophers shared some of the most fundamental epistemological assumptions of early English empiricism, for instance, the stereotypical Baconian assumption that knowledge about nature would come to us unambiguously once the mind was freed from preconception and bias. It is an assumption about scientific method that is decidedly hostile towards speculative hypothesising. Indeed, the motto of the day was not bold speculation and learning from error, but avoiding error at all costs. Yet in practice, error (or what appeared to be erroneous) was of course frequent; for science is an essentially speculative enterprise. Natural philosophers of the early modern period, however, were embarrassed by their failures and tried to explain them away. The satirists, on the other hand, could prey on these mistakes and conclude that the work of the natural philosophers was purely speculative. The reason for this rigid, anti-speculative epistemological stance, I argue, was a religious one, having to do with the conception of nature as a divine book that could be read like Scripture. This conflation of the epistemological and the theological is especially obvious in Swift. In both his satirical and non-satirical writings, he is obsessed with proposing proper standards of interpretation, and with criticising those whom he thought had corrupted these standards. Dissenters and religious enthusiasts are taken to task for their misreading of Scripture, for their corrupt religious doctrine which they erroneously claim to be based on Scripture and reason. The natural philosophers are accused of some similar hermeneutic sin; only, they have committed their interpretive transgressions against the proper interpretive standard of the book of nature. Where the natural philosophers claim to have found a new, more accurate way of reading the book of nature, Swift, I argue, sees only mis-readings. Rhetorically, Swift's satires on religious dissent perpetuate the typically Tory High-Church insinuation of sectarian and heretical sexual promiscuity. In his satires on science, Swift makes the same insinuation with respect to natural philosophers, most vividly so in A Tale of a Tub and the flying island of Laputa. The study concludes with a fresh look at Swift's rational horses in part four of Gulliver's Travels.
Going Amiss In Experimental Research
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Author : Giora Hon
language : en
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Release Date : 2008-12-04
Going Amiss In Experimental Research written by Giora Hon and has been published by Springer Science & Business Media this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2008-12-04 with Science categories.
Like any goal-oriented procedure, experiment is subject to many kinds of failures. These failures have a variety of features, depending on the particulars of their sources. For the experimenter these pitfalls should be avoided and their effects minimized. For the historian-philosopher of science and the science educator, on the other hand, they are instructive starting points for reflecting on science in general and scientific method and practice in particular. Often more is learned from failure than from confirmation and successful application. The identification of error, its source, its context, and its treatment shed light on both practices and epistemic claims. This book shows that it is fruitful to bring to light forgotten and lost failures, subject them to analysis and learn from their moral. The study of failures, errors, pitfalls and mistakes helps us understand the way knowledge is pursued and indeed generated. The book presents both historical accounts and philosophical analyses of failures in experimental practice. It covers topics such as "error as an object of study", "learning from error", "concepts and dead ends", "instrumental artifacts", and "surprise and puzzlement". This book will be of interest to historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science as well as to practicing scientists and science educators.
The Singular And The Making Of Knowledge At The Royal Society Of London In The Eighteenth Century
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Author : Palmira Fontes da Costa
language : en
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Release Date : 2009-01-14
The Singular And The Making Of Knowledge At The Royal Society Of London In The Eighteenth Century written by Palmira Fontes da Costa and has been published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2009-01-14 with History categories.
The central subject of this book is the status of singular experiences in the making of natural knowledge at the Royal Society of London in the eighteenth century. It makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the importance of the reporting and display of extraordinary phenomena at the Royal Society in this period, and shows that the success of these practices was largely based on their multiple roles within the Society, where singular experiences not only promoted natural historical and medical knowledge but also played a social and epistemological role. However, singular experiences were problematic in terms of authentication and the book reveals how eighteenth-century literary satires made the Royal Society an easy and favoured target for their interest in them. The book demonstrates the variety and intricacy of elements involved in the making and circulation of natural knowledge in the period. It provides an interdisciplinary and innovative approach to the place of the singular in one of the oldest and most import scientific institutions in the world.
Swift And Science
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Author : G. Lynall
language : en
Publisher: Springer
Release Date : 2012-05-22
Swift And Science written by G. Lynall and has been published by Springer this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2012-05-22 with Literary Criticism categories.
It is thought that Swift was opposed to the new science that heralded the beginning of the modern age, but this book interrogates that assumption, tracing the theological, political, and socio-cultural resonances of scientific knowledge in the early eighteenth century, and considering what they can reveal about Swift's imagination.
Swift Studies
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Author :
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 2003
Swift Studies written by and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2003 with categories.
Swift And Science
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Author : G. Lynall
language : en
Publisher: Springer
Release Date : 2012-05-22
Swift And Science written by G. Lynall and has been published by Springer this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2012-05-22 with Literary Criticism categories.
It is thought that Swift was opposed to the new science that heralded the beginning of the modern age, but this book interrogates that assumption, tracing the theological, political, and socio-cultural resonances of scientific knowledge in the early eighteenth century, and considering what they can reveal about Swift's imagination.
Literature And Science
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Author : Martin Willis
language : en
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Release Date : 2014-12-01
Literature And Science written by Martin Willis and has been published by Bloomsbury Publishing this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2014-12-01 with Literary Criticism categories.
This Guide introduces literature and science as a vibrant field of critical study that is increasingly influencing both university curricula and future areas of investigation. Martin Willis explores the development of the genre and its surrounding criticism from the early modern period to the present day, focusing on key texts, topics and debates.
Christentum In Der Neuzeit
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Author : Prof. Klaus Vellguth
language : de
Publisher: Verlag Herder GmbH
Release Date : 2020-02-17
Christentum In Der Neuzeit written by Prof. Klaus Vellguth and has been published by Verlag Herder GmbH this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 2020-02-17 with Religion categories.
Der Theologe und Kirchenhistoriker Mariano Delgado gibt mit seinem umfangreichen Werk zahlreiche Impulse für eine globalisierte Weltkirche. Wegbegleiter, Schüler, Mitarbeiter und Freunde widmen ihm diese Festschrift zu seinem 65. Geburtstag. Sie umfasst wissenschaftliche Texte zu seinen Schwerpunktthemen Kirchen- und Religionsgeschichte, Theologie der Religionen, interreligiöser Dialog, Interkulturalität, Missionsgeschichte und Missionstheologie der Neuzeit sowie Mystik.
The Saturday Review Of Politics Literature Science And Art
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Author :
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 1886
The Saturday Review Of Politics Literature Science And Art written by and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1886 with categories.
The Circulator Of Useful Knowledge Amusement Literature Science And General Information
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Author :
language : en
Publisher:
Release Date : 1825
The Circulator Of Useful Knowledge Amusement Literature Science And General Information written by and has been published by this book supported file pdf, txt, epub, kindle and other format this book has been release on 1825 with categories.