The Unknowable in Early Modern Thought: Natural Philosophy and the Poetics of the Ineffable

Author:   Kevin Killeen
Publisher:   Stanford University Press
ISBN:  

9781503635852


Pages:   274
Publication Date:   27 June 2023
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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The Unknowable in Early Modern Thought: Natural Philosophy and the Poetics of the Ineffable


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Author:   Kevin Killeen
Publisher:   Stanford University Press
Imprint:   Stanford University Press
ISBN:  

9781503635852


ISBN 10:   1503635856
Pages:   274
Publication Date:   27 June 2023
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. The Jobean Apophatic and the Symphonic Unknowability of the World 2. The Theopoetics of Jacob Boehme 3. Thomas Browne's Poetics of the Unspeakable 4. The Bewildering Surface from Boyle to Cavendish 5. Anna Trapnel's Aesthetics of Incoherence 6. Miltonic Vertigo and a Theology of Disorientation Epilogue: Ordinary and Exquisite Bafflement

Reviews

""Killeen's work brims with smart scholarship, sharp writing, and surprising discoveries. Deftly threading together the scientific and the mystical, the empirical and the unknowable, this remarkable book provides a new view of science, theology, and the literary forms tying them together.""—Jess Keiser, Tufts University ""Killeen corrects overly triumphant histories of science, where the new empiricism tames the old vitalism through reason, experiment, et cetera. This is an original book, eccentric in places, which is part of its charm, and full of stylistic flair.""—Ryan J. Stark, Corban University ""This new book is quite extraordinary, which I highly recommend.... Unique is a word that can describe Killeen's book. Many writers of the past wrote entire books about matters that were unknowable. Why they even bothered is the question that immediately comes to mind. This book answers that question.""—Cliff Cunningham, Sun News Austin ""For many decades now, literary critics and intellectual historians have traced the afterlife of medieval Catholic meditation in Protestant England. This fascinating new book aims to start the same conversation around another discipline generally associated with medieval Catholicism: apophatic theology.""—Katie Calloway, H-Albion ""Kevin Killeen's The Unknowable in Early Modern Thought: Natural Philosophy and the Poetics of the Ineffable offers a rich study of the unknowable—and related ideas of the unfathomable, inexpressible, ineffable, and unthinkable—which served as a generative resource for a wide range of seventeenth-century thinkers.""—Debapriya Sarkar, Modern Philology


"""Killeen's work brims with smart scholarship, sharp writing, and surprising discoveries. Deftly threading together the scientific and the mystical, the empirical and the unknowable, this remarkable book provides a new view of science, theology, and the literary forms tying them together.""—Jess Keiser, Tufts University ""Killeen corrects overly triumphant histories of science, where the new empiricism tames the old vitalism through reason, experiment, et cetera. This is an original book, eccentric in places, which is part of its charm, and full of stylistic flair.""—Ryan J. Stark, Corban University ""This new book is quite extraordinary, which I highly recommend.... Unique is a word that can describe Killeen's book. Many writers of the past wrote entire books about matters that were unknowable. Why they even bothered is the question that immediately comes to mind. This book answers that question.""—Cliff Cunningham, Sun News Austin ""For many decades now, literary critics and intellectual historians have traced the afterlife of medieval Catholic meditation in Protestant England. This fascinating new book aims to start the same conversation around another discipline generally associated with medieval Catholicism: apophatic theology.""—Katie Calloway, H-Albion ""Kevin Killeen's The Unknowable in Early Modern Thought: Natural Philosophy and the Poetics of the Ineffable offers a rich study of the unknowable—and related ideas of the unfathomable, inexpressible, ineffable, and unthinkable—which served as a generative resource for a wide range of seventeenth-century thinkers.""—Debapriya Sarkar, Modern Philology"


Killeen's work brims with smart scholarship, sharp writing, and surprising discoveries. Deftly threading together the scientific and the mystical, the empirical and the unknowable, this remarkable book provides a new view of science, theology, and the literary forms tying them together. -Jess Keiser, Tufts University Killeen corrects overly triumphant histories of science, where the new empiricism tames the old vitalism through reason, experiment, et cetera. This is an original book, eccentric in places, which is part of its charm, and full of stylistic flair. -Ryan J. Stark, Corban University


Author Information

Kevin Killeen is Professor in English and Early Modern Literature at the University of York. He is the author, most recently, of The Political Bible in Early Modern England (2017)

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