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Public Knowledge, Natural Philosophy, and the Eighteenth-Century Republic of Letters

Public Knowledge, Natural Philosophy, and the Eighteenth-Century Republic of Letters Sarah IrvIng University of Western Sydney On a frozen morning in January 1773, the members of the American Philosophical Society assembled in Philadelphia for an oration delivered by a Scottish-born Church of England clergyman, Rev. William Smith. Having immigrated to New York two decades earlier, Smith taught natural philosophy and logic at the Academy of Philadelphia. That morning, Smith pointed out what he viewed as one of the great virtues of the Republic of Letters. The "mixing of Men of different Parties and Persuasions in one grand Pursuit" would enable each man's personal prejudices to be "worn off " (Oration 8). Moreover, "those Labors, that might otherwise run contrary to each other are brought to center in one Point for the public Good" (9). In other words, in the Republic of Letters, the pursuit of knowledge would maintain good social order because men's personal "parties," "persuasions," and "prejudices" are left at home. Smith's rhetoric was not just republican, and his point was not just political. He was also making an epistemological claim about the nature of public knowledge. Upon entering the Republic of Letters, one leaves one's subjectivity behind. The fortuitous result is knowledge that is simultaneously credible http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Early American Literature University of North Carolina Press

Public Knowledge, Natural Philosophy, and the Eighteenth-Century Republic of Letters

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Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 The University of North Carolina Press.
ISSN
1534-147X
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Abstract

Sarah IrvIng University of Western Sydney On a frozen morning in January 1773, the members of the American Philosophical Society assembled in Philadelphia for an oration delivered by a Scottish-born Church of England clergyman, Rev. William Smith. Having immigrated to New York two decades earlier, Smith taught natural philosophy and logic at the Academy of Philadelphia. That morning, Smith pointed out what he viewed as one of the great virtues of the Republic of Letters. The "mixing of Men of different Parties and Persuasions in one grand Pursuit" would enable each man's personal prejudices to be "worn off " (Oration 8). Moreover, "those Labors, that might otherwise run contrary to each other are brought to center in one Point for the public Good" (9). In other words, in the Republic of Letters, the pursuit of knowledge would maintain good social order because men's personal "parties," "persuasions," and "prejudices" are left at home. Smith's rhetoric was not just republican, and his point was not just political. He was also making an epistemological claim about the nature of public knowledge. Upon entering the Republic of Letters, one leaves one's subjectivity behind. The fortuitous result is knowledge that is simultaneously credible

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Early American Literature – University of North Carolina Press

Published: Mar 9, 2014

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