A Bastard Kind of Reasoning: William Blake and Geometry

Einsteinian relativity, eighteenth-century field theory, Neoplatonism, and the overthrow of three-dimensional perspective all influenced William Blake's geometry, which informs his work across media and genres. Blake's cosmology explores the body and soul, matter and Heaven, and the nature of understanding, reason, and substance. His poetry and art realized the revolutionary potential of Enlightened natural philosophy, even as it still needed an Einstein for its physics to snap fully into focus. His mythmaking exploits the imaginative reach of formal abstractions to generate a model of how sensation imparts physical extension to the world, and his art of vision leads us today to visualize four-dimensional concepts of space, time, and Man for ourselves.

Format: Hardback
Length: 340 pages
Publication date: 01 May 2023
Publisher: State University of New York Press

Einsteinian relativity, eighteenth-century field theory, Neoplatonism, and the overthrow of three-dimensional perspective have several commonalities. Firstly, they all emerged during the Romantic period, a time of significant intellectual and artistic change. Secondly, they all challenged traditional notions of space, time, and the nature of reality. Thirdly, they all had a profound impact on the development of modern physics and philosophy.

Einsteinian relativity, developed by Albert Einstein in the early 20th century, revolutionized our understanding of space, time, and gravity. It introduced the concept of space-time as a unified entity, which allowed for the prediction of phenomena such as black holes, gravitational waves, and the expansion of the universe. This theory challenged the Newtonian view of space as a fixed and absolute entity and paved the way for the development of modern physics.

Eighteenth-century field theory, on the other hand, was a precursor to Einsteinian relativity. It was developed by Isaac Newton and other scientists and focused on the study of forces and their interactions. Field theory provided a mathematical framework for understanding the behavior of particles and the structure of the universe. It also introduced the concept of energy and the law of conservation of energy, which are still fundamental principles of modern physics.

Neoplatonism, a philosophical school that emerged in ancient Greece, was also influential in the Romantic period. Neoplatonism emphasized the unity of all things and the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. It influenced the work of many artists and writers, including Blake, who used Neoplatonic ideas in his poetry and art.

The overthrow of three-dimensional perspective was a significant event in the Romantic period. It was led by artists such as Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin, who sought to create a more realistic and immersive experience of space. This perspective challenged the traditional two-dimensional representation of space and introduced the concept of depth and perspective.

William Blake's geometry, which informs his work across media and genres, is a key example of the Romantic-period physics. Blake's cosmology forms part of his age's deep reevaluation of body and soul, of matter and Heaven, and even probes what it is to understand understanding, reason, and substance. Far from being anti-Newtonian, Blake was prophetically post-Newtonian. His poetry and art realized the revolutionary potential of Enlightened natural philosophy even as that philosophy still needed an Einstein for its physics to snap fully into focus.

Blake's mythmaking exploits the imaginative reach of formal abstractions to generate a model of how sensation imparts physical extension to the world. More striking still, Cooper shows how Blake's art of vision leads us today to visualize four-dimensional concepts of space, time, and Man for ourselves.

In conclusion, Einsteinian relativity, eighteenth-century field theory, Neoplatonism, and the overthrow of three-dimensional perspective have several commonalities. They all emerged during the Romantic period, challenged traditional notions of space, time, and the nature of reality, and had a profound impact on the development of modern physics and philosophy. Blake's geometry is a key example of the Romantic-period physics, and his art of vision leads us today to visualize four-dimensional concepts of space, time, and Man for ourselves.

Weight: 636g
Dimension: 160 x 237 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781438493220