Overview

Barbara J. Shapiro traces the genesis of the ""fact"", a modern concept that, she demonstrates, originated not in natural science but in legal discourse. She follows the concept's evolution and diffusion across a variety of disciplines in early modern England, examining how the emerging ""culture of fact"" shaped the epistemological assumptions of each intellectual enterprise. Drawing on a wide range of research, Shapiro probes the fact's changing identity from an alleged human action to a proven natural or human happening. The crucial first step in this transition occurred in the 16th century, when English common law established a definition of fact which relied on eyewitnesses and testimony. The concept widened to cover natural as well as human events as a result of developments in news reportage and travel writing. Only then, Shapiro discovers, did scientific philosophy adopt the category ""fact"". With Francis Bacon advocating the more stringent criteria, the witness became a vital component in scientific observation and experimentation. Shapiro also recounts how England's preoccupation with the fact influenced historiography, religion and literature - which saw the creation of a fact-orientated fictional genre, the novel.

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9780801436864

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Reviews

Shapiro has written an excellent work in intellectual and cultural history. (Virginia Quarterly Review) The book is filled with quotes and references to a very wide range of primary as well as secondary sources. It will be of much heuristic value in studying the changing meanings of 'fact' in this period, quite apart from Shapiro's strong argument concerning the special role of the law. - Peter Dear, Cornell University (Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences) This nutshell presentation does far from justice to the nuances of the basic argument of the book, still less to the striking nature of the supporting detail... It should be given a hearty welcome as a trenchant and well illustrated contribution to an ongoing debate. - Paul Dukes (Journal of European Studies)

This nutshell presentation does far from justice to the nuances of the basic argument of the book, still less to the striking nature of the supporting detail... It should be given a hearty welcome as a trenchant and well illustrated contribution to an ongoing debate. --Paul Dukes Journal of European Studies The book is filled with quotes and references to a very wide range of primary as well as secondary sources. It will be of much heuristic value in studying the changing meanings of 'fact' in this period, quite apart from Shapiro's strong argument concerning the special role of the law. --Peter Dear, Cornell University Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences Shapiro has written an excellent work in intellectual and cultural history. --Virginia Quarterly Review

Shapiro has written an excellent work in intellectual and cultural history. * Virginia Quarterly Review * This nutshell presentation does far from justice to the nuances of the basic argument of the book, still less to the striking nature of the supporting detail... It should be given a hearty welcome as a trenchant and well illustrated contribution to an ongoing debate. -- Paul Dukes * Journal of European Studies * The book is filled with quotes and references to a very wide range of primary as well as secondary sources. It will be of much heuristic value in studying the changing meanings of 'fact' in this period, quite apart from Shapiro's strong argument concerning the special role of the law. -- Peter Dear, Cornell University * Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences *

Author Information

Barbara J. Shapiro is Professor of Rhetoric Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley. Her books include Beyond Reasonable Doubt and Probable Cause: Historical Perspectives on the Anglo-American Law of Evidence and Probability and Certainty in Seventeenth-Century England.

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