Science in an Enchanted World by Julie Davies

Author:Julie Davies [Davies, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Modern, 17th Century, Europe, Renaissance, Great Britain, General
ISBN: 9780429880261
Google: _2FgDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-06-14T05:06:26+00:00

Precedents for Self-Reflection: The Scholar Gypsy and Sir Kenelm Digby

By the time Glanvill was working on the 1681 Tedworth account, circa 1676–1678, he had already made similar revisions to several other works, particularly the three versions of The Vanity of Dogmatizing in which he promotes the Royal Society’s experimental method. The following analysis of the stylistic and philosophical consistencies in the revisions made to both The Vanity of Dogmatizing and the Tedworth account offer further support to the claim that the Tedworth account was motivated by both scientific and theological considerations.

The disposition towards continual refinement of evidence and style is evident in Glanvill’s writings from a very early stage in his career. Thus, the first book Glanvill publishes, The Vanity of Dogmatizing (1661), is significantly revised by 1664. This work then undergoes a third revision in 1676, just before Glanvill seems to begin the second major revision of the Tedworth account. Each version marked a milestone in Glanvill’s career. The Vanity, Glanvill’s first publication, was released after his return to Oxford upon Rous’s death. The Scepsis was published in 1665, the year after it was presented to the Royal Society prompting Glanvill’s fellowship nomination. Finally, the collection containing the third version, “Against Confidence in Philosophy”, was dedicated to the Marquess of Worcester shortly after Glanvill’s promotion to Chaplain in Ordinary in 1675. Comparing the three versions of The Vanity shows that the trends observed in Glanvill’s revisions to the Tedworth accounts were well entrenched in a wider range of his writings from an early stage. This in turn suggests that the revisions to the Tedworth account were not only a reaction to doubt about the case’s authenticity, but were also part of a wider revision program which sought to implement a more appropriate and effective philosophical style and methodological rigour to Glanvill’s work across a range of topics.

As outlined previously, the first edition of this work was published in 1661 under the title The Vanity of Dogmatizing, the second was completed by 1664, though not published until 1665 under the title Scepsis scientifica, and the third version appeared as Essay I, entitled “Against Confidence in Philosophy, and Matters of Speculation” in the work Essays on Several Important Subjects in Philosophy and Religion (1676). The revisions made in the Scepsis are comparatively minor, though effective enough at toning down the florid embellishments which characterized The Vanity in order to win Glanvill membership to the Royal Society. However, the revisions made in 1676 had considerably more impact. According to Stephen Medcalf, the 1676 rendition

is still recognisably the same book in structure and matter, [but] is rendered wholly different by its spare and abstract diction: one can see in it the beginning of a style of thought and language which lasts into our own time, the classic style of English rational empiricism.

In particular, we can trace Glanvill’s shifting attitude toward Descartes, his criticism of Aristotelianism and the use of rhetorical metaphors through each edition. Across the editions, Glanvill tempers his fervent praise of

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