Literature, language, and the rise of the intellectual disciplines in Britain, 1680-1820 / Robin Valenza.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Valenza, Robin, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English poetry--18th century--History and criticism.

English poetry.

Literature and science--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Literature and science.

Language and culture--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Language and culture.

Science and the humanities--Great Britain--History--18th century.

Science and the humanities.

Great Britain--Intellectual life--18th century.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 239 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Other Title:

Literature, Language, & the Rise of the Intellectual Disciplines in Britain, 1680-1820

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The divide between the sciences and the humanities, which often seem to speak entirely different languages, has its roots in the way intellectual disciplines developed in the long eighteenth century. As various fields of study became defined and to some degree professionalized, their ways of communicating evolved into an increasingly specialist vocabulary. Chemists, physicists, philosophers, and poets argued about whether their discourses should become more and more specialised, or whether they should aim to remain intelligible to the layperson. In this interdisciplinary study, Robin Valenza shows how Isaac Newton, Samuel Johnson, David Hume, Adam Smith, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth invented new intellectual languages. By offering a much-needed account of the rise of the modern disciplines, Robin Valenza shows why the sciences and humanities diverged so strongly, and argues that literature has a special role in navigating between the languages of different areas of thought.

Contents:

The economies of knowledge

The learned and conversable worlds

Physics and its audiences

Philosophy's place between science and literature

Poetry among the intellectual disciples.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-511-69985-9

1-107-20900-5

0-521-36995-9

1-282-33686-X

9786612336867

0-511-63515-X

0-511-63301-7

0-511-63180-4

0-511-63471-4

0-511-63422-6

OCLC:

609845873