The End of the Soul: Scientific Modernity, Atheism, and Anthropology in FranceColumbia University Press, 2003 - 402 páginas On October 19, 1876 a group of leading French citizens, both men and women included, joined together to form an unusual group, The Society of Mutual Autopsy, with the aim of proving that souls do not exist. The idea was that, after death, they would dissect one another and (hopefully) show a direct relationship between brain shapes and sizes and the character, abilities and intelligence of individuals. This strange scientific pact, and indeed what we have come to think of as anthropology, which the group's members helped to develop, had its genesis in aggressive, evangelical atheism. With this group as its focus, The End of the Soul is a study of science and atheism in France in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It shows that anthropology grew in the context of an impassioned struggle between the forces of tradition, especially the Catholic faith, and those of a more freethinking modernism, and moreover that it became for many a secular religion. Among the adherents of this new faith discussed here are the novelist Emile Zola, the great statesman Leon Gambetta, the American birth control advocate Margaret Sanger, and Arthur Conan Doyle, whose Sherlock Holmes embodied the triumph of ratiocination over credulity. Boldly argued, full of colorful characters and often bizarre battles over science and faith, this book represents a major contribution to the history of science and European intellectual history. |
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
The End of the Soul: Scientific Modernity, Atheism, and Anthropology in France Jennifer Hecht Vista previa limitada - 2005 |
The End of the Soul: Scientific Modernity, Atheism, and Anthropology in France Jennifer Michael Hecht Sin vista previa disponible - 2003 |
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Alphonse Bertillon Analyses et comptes André Lefèvre anthro anthropology anthroposociology anticlerical argued ASAM atheist believed Bibliothèque biological Bouglé brain Broca Brunetière BSAP Cambridge Catholic Célestin Bouglé cephalic index Charcot Charles church cited claims Clémence Royer Collège de France criminal d'anthropologie de Paris Darwin death doctrine Durkheim Emile Durkheim essay evolution Finot Fouillée France freethinking anthropologists French FVL/UM Gambetta Georges Vacher hommes d'aujourd'hui Hovelacque human idea Jacques Bertillon journal L'Aryen l'Ecole d'anthropologie l'homme Lapouge's Lefèvre's Léonce Manouvrier Letourneau Liard Libre pensée Louis-Adolphe Manouvrier Manouvrier's materialist modern morality Musée de l'homme Mutual Autopsy nation natural nineteenth century Paris Paul Paul Broca philosophy political progress published races racial religion religious republican Revue philosophique Revue scientifique Richet scientific scientists secular skulls social Société d'anthropologie Society of Mutual sociology soul theory Third Republic Thulié tion Topinard trans University Press Vacher de Lapouge Véron women wrote Yves Guyot