The Transmission of Knowledge in Eighteenth-Century Britain

1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-032-75634-9
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 200 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Reihe: 21st Century Perspectives on British Literature and Society

This book reimagines the history of knowledge in 18th-century Britain by exploring how ideas were transmitted and diffused across generations and disciplines. Drawing on innovative digital tools, it uncovers collective patterns in the language of science, philosophy, and commerce, revealing how concepts such as ‘system’, ‘sensibility’, and ‘volition’ were shaped and shared by communities rather than individuals. The study examines the commodification of knowledge, tracing its connections with the rise of capitalism and the emergence of knowledge as a storeable, transferable asset. By distinguishing between the optimistic project of transmission to posterity and the anxieties surrounding the diffusion of knowledge, the book illuminates the political, social, and economic stakes of Enlightenment thought. Blending literary analysis, intellectual history, and digital humanities, it offers new perspectives for scholars and general readers on how knowledge structures persist and evolve, and why their movement matters for modernity.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Regan, John

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Strömungen & Epochen
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Professionelle Anwendung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: New Perspectives on 18th C Knowledge Transmission in 18th C Britain

Chapter One: Transmission to Posterity and, Detailing the Method

Chapter Two: ‘System’: From the Stars to the Operating Theatre

Chapter Three: Transmission via Lexical Hinge: ‘Irritability’, ‘sensibility’ and Laurence Sterne

Chapter Four: John Locke and the Collective Concept of volition

Chapter Five: Money, Markets, Circulation and Computation

Conclusion: Knowledge Transmission and the Extended Mind

Index

Über Autor(innen)

John Regan is Senior Lecturer in Digital Humanities at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research interests fall into two main areas. Firstly, he is interested in the new forms of knowledge that might be discovered or indeed wrought by digital technology. Secondly, he has published extensively in eighteenth-century literature and aesthetics. He is the author of Poetry and the Idea of Progress, 1760-1790 (2018)) and he co-edited Rethinking British Romantic History 1770-1845 (2014). In October 2023 he published his second monograph entitled Semantic Change and Collective Knowledge in 18th C Britain. This is a digital enquiry into the forms of knowledge embodied in historical corpora and only made visible using digital tools. He is currently funded by the British Academy on a two-year project investigating the United Nations’ corpus.