Breeding: A Partial History of the Eighteenth Century - Hardcover

Davidson, Jenny

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231138784 ISBN 13: 9780231138789

Verlag: Columbia University Press, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

DAVIDSON, J. BREEDING. A PARTIAL HISTORY OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY [HARDBACK]. IRVINGTON, NY, 2009, xviii 292 p.,. Encuadernacion original. Nuevo.

Über diesen Titel

Críticas:

A stimulating and clarifying guide to a complicated and important subject, as well as a fresh perspective on eighteenth-century Britain. -- Patricia Meyer Spacks Journal of British Studies required reading for students and scholars of eighteenth-century literature and aesthetics English Studies

Reseña del editor:

The Enlightenment commitment to reason naturally gave rise to a belief in the perfectibility of man. Influenced by John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, many eighteenth-century writers argued that the proper education and upbringing--breeding--could make any man a member of the cultural elite. Yet even in this egalitarian environment, the concept of breeding remained tied to theories of blood lineage, caste distinction, and biological difference. Turning to the works of Locke, Rousseau, Swift, Defoe, and other giants of the British Enlightenment, Jenny Davidson revives the debates that raged over the husbandry of human nature and highlights their critical impact on the development of eugenics, the emergence of fears about biological determinism, and the history of the language itself. Combining rich historical research with a keen sense of story, she links explanations for the physical resemblance between parents and children to larger arguments about culture and society and shows how the threads of this compelling conversation reveal the character of a century. A remarkable intellectual history, Breeding not only recasts the fundamental concerns of the Enlightenment but also uncovers the seeds of thought that bloomed into contemporary notions of human perfectibility.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Columbia University Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0231138784
• ISBN 13: 9780231138789
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 312