The Dispute of the New World

by Gerbi, Antonello; Moyle, Jeremy

• ISBN13: 9780822960812
• ISBN10: 0822960818
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-28
• Publisher: Univ of Pittsburgh Pr

Summary

When Hegel described the Americas as an inferior continent, he was repeating a contention that inspired one of the most passionate debates of modern times. Originally formulated by the eminent natural scientist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon and expanded by the Prussian encyclopedist Cornelius de Pauw, this provocative thesis drew heated responses from politicians, philosophers, publicists, and patriots on both sides of the Atlantic. The ensuing polemic reached its apex in the latter decades of the eighteenth century and is far from extinct today. Translated in 1973,The Dispute of the New Worldis the definitive study of this debate. Antonello Gerbi scrutinizes each contribution to the debate, unravels the complex arguments, and reveals their inner motivations. As the story of the polemic unfolds, moving through many disciplines that include biology, economics, anthropology, theology, geophysics, and poetry, it becomes clear that the subject at issue is nothing less than the totality of the Old World versus the New, and how each viewed the other at a vital turning point in history.

Author Biography

Antonello Gerbi (1904–1976) was a specialist on the history of political ideology and the author of several books, including Nature in the New World: From Christopher Columbus to Gonzalo Fernßndez de Oviedo.