Volume 49, Issue 3

Abstract

The central issue in this article is a specific aspect of the relationship between literature and natural science in early modern times. It examines how the perception of natural phenomena is directed by parsing texts and how the discovery of certain structures found in nature influence early modern manners of reading and writing. In order to analyse this coherence, three problems are discussed: the relation between &I;auctoritas and autopsie (autopsy) in early modern times and its influence on the practice of science, its ensuing aesthetic manners of reading in the ‘Boek der Natuur’ (Book of Nature) by Dutch, seventeenth century scientists, and the change in the auctoritas concept under the influence of cartesianism from the mid-seventeenth century onwards. Specific attention is paid to medical texts since, in this genre in particular, the correlation between rhetorical techniques and knowledge acquisition plays a crucial role.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.5117/IVN2011.3.NOAK
2011-10-01
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.5117/IVN2011.3.NOAK
Loading

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed