Reading Genesis in the Long Eighteenth Century: From Milton to Mary ShelleyIn a reassessment of the long-accepted division between religion and enlightenment, Ana Acosta here traces a tissue of readings and adaptations of Genesis and Scriptural language from Milton through Rousseau to Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley. Acosta's interdisciplinary approach places these writers in the broader context of eighteenth-century political theory, biblical criticism, religious studies and utopianism. Acosta's argument is twofold: she establishes the importance of Genesis within utopian thinking, in particular the influential models of Milton and Rousseau; and she demonstrates that the power of these models can be explained neither by traditional religious paradigms nor by those of religion or philosophy. In establishing the relationship between biblical criticism and republican utopias, Acosta makes a solid case that important utopian visions are better understood against the background of Genesis interpretation. This study opens a new perspective on theories of secularization, and as such will interest scholars of religious studies, intellectual history, and philosophy as well as of literary studies. |
From inside the book
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... scriptural language that extends from Milton through Rousseau to Wollstonecraft and Shelley reveals a tradition that self-consciously negotiated the fault lines between visionary ideals and secular goals. In the Christian model of ...
... scriptural language that extends from Milton through Rousseau to Wollstonecraft and Shelley reveals a tradition that self-consciously negotiated the fault lines between visionary ideals and secular goals. In the Christian model of ...
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... scripture , leaving aside the spiritual , along with all questions of origins , as unknowable : " . we understand nothing of what he is , but only that he is . " 3 While Hobbes devoted nearly half of Leviathan to religious questions ...
... scripture , leaving aside the spiritual , along with all questions of origins , as unknowable : " . we understand nothing of what he is , but only that he is . " 3 While Hobbes devoted nearly half of Leviathan to religious questions ...
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... scripture , and the philosophy of Natural Right . I also introduce three primary theoretical and methodological concerns : the common assumption of post- Enlightenment secularization ; the place of eschatology and theodicy in ...
... scripture , and the philosophy of Natural Right . I also introduce three primary theoretical and methodological concerns : the common assumption of post- Enlightenment secularization ; the place of eschatology and theodicy in ...
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... scripture generated out of the these rewritten versions of Genesis. Chapter 4 deals with the way in which these two models of origin are rejected by Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Both Milton and Rousseau permeate ...
... scripture generated out of the these rewritten versions of Genesis. Chapter 4 deals with the way in which these two models of origin are rejected by Wollstonecraft's Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Both Milton and Rousseau permeate ...
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... scripture was a composite text built out of distinct editorial strands . In 1753 , the French physician Jean Astruc became the first exponent of what has since become known as the documentary hypothesis when he identified two different ...
... scripture was a composite text built out of distinct editorial strands . In 1753 , the French physician Jean Astruc became the first exponent of what has since become known as the documentary hypothesis when he identified two different ...
Contents
Dr Miltons Guide or the Utopia Within | |
The Passion of JeanJacques Rousseau or the Dystopia Within | |
Wollstonecrafts Body Politics or Philosophy in the Bedroom | |
Other editions - View all
Reading Genesis in the Long Eighteenth Century: From Milton to Mary Shelley Ana M. Acosta Limited preview - 2006 |
Reading Genesis in the Long Eighteenth Century: From Milton to Mary Shelley ANA M. ACOSTA No preview available - 2019 |
Common terms and phrases
Adam and Eve aesthetic allegory argued argument Astruc authority autobiographical Bible biblical bourgeois Cambridge Casanova Chapter Christian concept Confessions consequently contrast created creation creature creature's criticism critique death defined depiction divine documentary hypothesis dystopia Emile Enlightenment eschatological essay Eve's evil example fact fall fiction Frankenstein garden goal happiness Hebrew Bible Hobbes human Icosameron ideal ideology individual interpretation Jean Jean Astruc Jean-Jacques Rousseau Kant Kant's labor language literally London Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Mégamicres metaphor moral Moses myth mythic narrative Oeuvres Origin of Inequality Pandaemonium Paradise Lost perfect philosophical Plutarch poem poetics political prelapsarian prophetic voice rational reading reason relationship religion religious Rêveries rewrite Genesis rewriting of Genesis Satan scatology scripture second Discours secular sensuality Shelley's social society Sophie story structure teleology theodicy thou tradition trans truth University Press utopia Vindication Volney Werther Woman women words writings York