A Culture of Fact

by Shapiro, Barbara J.

• ISBN13: 9780801436864
• ISBN10: 0801436869
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-12-01
• Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr

Summary

Barbara J. Shapiro traces the surprising genesis of the "fact, ' a modern concept that, she convincingly 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 an astonishing breadth 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 sixteenth 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 more stringent criteria, the witness became a vital component in scientific observation and exper

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	i
``Fact'' and the Law	8	(26)
``Fact'' and History	34	(29)
Discourses of Fact: Chorography, Description, and Travel Reporting	63	(23)
``News,'' ``Marvels,'' ``Wonders,'' and the Periodical Press	86	(19)
The Facts of Nature I	105	(34)
The Facts of Nature II	139	(29)
Facts of Religion	168	(21)
Cultural Elaboration of ``Fact''	189	(19)
Conclusion	208	(11)
Notes	219	(53)
Index	272