Author: Julia V. Douthwaite
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226160572
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
This study looks at the lives of the most famous "wild children" of eighteenth-century Europe, showing how they open a window onto European ideas about the potential and perfectibility of mankind. Julia V. Douthwaite recounts reports of feral children such as the wild girl of Champagne (captured in 1731 and baptized as Marie-Angélique Leblanc), offering a fascinating glimpse into beliefs about the difference between man and beast and the means once used to civilize the uncivilized. A variety of educational experiments failed to tame these feral children by the standards of the day. After telling their stories, Douthwaite turns to literature that reflects on similar experiments to perfect human subjects. Her examples range from utopian schemes for progressive childrearing to philosophical tales of animated statues, from revolutionary theories of regenerated men to Gothic tales of scientists run amok. Encompassing thinkers such as Rousseau, Sade, Defoe, and Mary Shelley, Douthwaite shows how the Enlightenment conceived of mankind as an infinitely malleable entity, first with optimism, then with apprehension. Exposing the darker side of eighteenth-century thought, she demonstrates how advances in science gave rise to troubling ethical concerns, as parents, scientists, and politicians tried to perfect mankind with disastrous results.
The Wild Girl, Natural Man, and the Monster
Author: Julia V. Douthwaite
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226160572
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
This study looks at the lives of the most famous "wild children" of eighteenth-century Europe, showing how they open a window onto European ideas about the potential and perfectibility of mankind. Julia V. Douthwaite recounts reports of feral children such as the wild girl of Champagne (captured in 1731 and baptized as Marie-Angélique Leblanc), offering a fascinating glimpse into beliefs about the difference between man and beast and the means once used to civilize the uncivilized. A variety of educational experiments failed to tame these feral children by the standards of the day. After telling their stories, Douthwaite turns to literature that reflects on similar experiments to perfect human subjects. Her examples range from utopian schemes for progressive childrearing to philosophical tales of animated statues, from revolutionary theories of regenerated men to Gothic tales of scientists run amok. Encompassing thinkers such as Rousseau, Sade, Defoe, and Mary Shelley, Douthwaite shows how the Enlightenment conceived of mankind as an infinitely malleable entity, first with optimism, then with apprehension. Exposing the darker side of eighteenth-century thought, she demonstrates how advances in science gave rise to troubling ethical concerns, as parents, scientists, and politicians tried to perfect mankind with disastrous results.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226160572
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
This study looks at the lives of the most famous "wild children" of eighteenth-century Europe, showing how they open a window onto European ideas about the potential and perfectibility of mankind. Julia V. Douthwaite recounts reports of feral children such as the wild girl of Champagne (captured in 1731 and baptized as Marie-Angélique Leblanc), offering a fascinating glimpse into beliefs about the difference between man and beast and the means once used to civilize the uncivilized. A variety of educational experiments failed to tame these feral children by the standards of the day. After telling their stories, Douthwaite turns to literature that reflects on similar experiments to perfect human subjects. Her examples range from utopian schemes for progressive childrearing to philosophical tales of animated statues, from revolutionary theories of regenerated men to Gothic tales of scientists run amok. Encompassing thinkers such as Rousseau, Sade, Defoe, and Mary Shelley, Douthwaite shows how the Enlightenment conceived of mankind as an infinitely malleable entity, first with optimism, then with apprehension. Exposing the darker side of eighteenth-century thought, she demonstrates how advances in science gave rise to troubling ethical concerns, as parents, scientists, and politicians tried to perfect mankind with disastrous results.
Catalogue of the Printed Books in the Library of the University of Edinburgh
Author: Edinburgh University Library
Publisher: Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable
ISBN:
Category : Library catalogs
Languages : en
Pages : 1404
Book Description
Publisher: Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable
ISBN:
Category : Library catalogs
Languages : en
Pages : 1404
Book Description
At the Origins of Mathematical Economics
Author: Richard Van Den Berg
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134401493
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 422
Book Description
This pioneering new book examines the life and work of Achille Nicolas Isnard. It illuminates his major contributions to political economy and contains substantial extracts from a number of his publications in French and English.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134401493
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 422
Book Description
This pioneering new book examines the life and work of Achille Nicolas Isnard. It illuminates his major contributions to political economy and contains substantial extracts from a number of his publications in French and English.
General Catalogue of Printed Books
Author: British Museum. Department of Printed Books
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English imprints
Languages : en
Pages : 616
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English imprints
Languages : en
Pages : 616
Book Description
The British Library General Catalogue of Printed Books to 1975
Author: British Library
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 488
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 488
Book Description
Reorienting Orientalism
Author: Chandreyee Niyogi
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761934479
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Book Description
Revised version of papers presented at the International Conference: Rereading Orientalism, held at Kolkata in August 2004.
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 9780761934479
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 310
Book Description
Revised version of papers presented at the International Conference: Rereading Orientalism, held at Kolkata in August 2004.
Eighteenth-century British Books: Introduction. Generalities. Philosophy. Religion
Author: British Museum. Department of Printed Books
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Early printed books
Languages : en
Pages : 1336
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Early printed books
Languages : en
Pages : 1336
Book Description
The Learned Ape
Author: Patrick Bridgwater
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Animals in literature
Languages : en
Pages : 40
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Animals in literature
Languages : en
Pages : 40
Book Description
General Catalogue of Printed Books to 1955
Author: British Museum. Dept. of Printed Books
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English imprints
Languages : en
Pages : 1306
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English imprints
Languages : en
Pages : 1306
Book Description
General catalogue of printed books
Author: British museum. Dept. of printed books
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 472
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 472
Book Description