
Letters on the Laws of Man's Nature and Development
Cambridge University Press
Published on 20. July 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
408 pages
978-1-108-00415-2 (ISBN)
Description
Henry George Atkinson (c.1812-c.1890), a free thinker and supporter of naturalism, published extensively on phrenology, mesmerism, and spiritualism. He became acquainted with the professional writer, political activist and radical philosopher Harriet Martineau (1802-76) in the 1840s, when she attributed her recovery from a long illness to mesmerism. Their correspondence was published in 1851, and promotes a radical form of atheistic naturalism, more extreme than that found in George Combe's best-selling Constitution of Man (also published in this series). It ranges widely over topics including the brain and the nervous system, matter and causation, superstition, theology and science. The book promotes the purity of natural law as superior to social customs and institutions, and reflects many concerns of the intelligentsia of the time, amongst whom it stirred up much controversy.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
573 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-108-00415-2 (9781108004152)
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Schweitzer Classification
Content
Preface; Mottoes; 1. Inquiry for a basis; 2. Proposal of a basis; 3. Preparation of the ground; 4. What is the brain?; 5. Inquiry about its structure; 6. Early days of phrenology; 7. Inquiry for new discoveries; 8. Methods of new discovery; 9. Illustrative cases; 10. Organic arrangement of the cerebrum; 11. Dr. Howe's report on idiocy; 12. The senses and nervous system; 13. Illustrative comment; 14. Facts about the senses under various conditions; 15. Raising questions; 16. Bacon, on matter and causation; 17. Nothing; 18. Knowledge and notions; 19. Release from notions; 20. Natural history of superstition; 21. Theology and science; 22. Central law and pervasive unity; 23. Position and privilege of truth-seekers; 24. Position and privilege of truth-speakers; Appendix.