Literature, Language, and the Rise of the Intellectual Disciplines in Britain, 1680-1820
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.
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Literature, Language, and the Rise of the Intellectual Disciplines in Britain, 1680-1820
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.
37.49 In Stock
Literature, Language, and the Rise of the Intellectual Disciplines in Britain, 1680-1820

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

by Robin Valenza
Literature, Language, and the Rise of the Intellectual Disciplines in Britain, 1680-1820

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

by Robin Valenza

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Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780511699856
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication date: 09/24/2009
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 773 KB

About the Author

Robin Valenza is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

1. The economies of knowledge; 2. The learned and conversible worlds; 3. Physics and its audiences; 4. Philosophy's place between science and literature; 5. Poetry among the intellectual disciplines; Coda: common sense and common language; Works cited; Index.
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