The Unknowable in Early Modern Thought: Natural Philosophy and the Poetics of the Ineffable

The Unknowable in Early Modern Thought explores how the scientific revolution was haunted by the paradox of thinking about the elusive nature of God and the natural world, and how seventeenth-century writings redeployed the resources of the ineffable and the apophatic to think about natural philosophy and the enigmas of the natural world.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 274 pages
Publication date: 27 June 2023
Publisher: Stanford University Press

Early modern thought was plagued by the enigmatic nature of the fallen world. The sometimes brilliant and sometimes perplexing fusion of theological and scientific ideas during this era, as well as some of its most remarkable literature, reflects the sense that humans encountered only an incomplete reality. This exploration delves into how the scientific revolution of the 17th century was both hindered and propelled by the paradox it encountered in grappling with the elusive nature of God and the unfathomable depths of the natural world. By examining writers with diverse interests in science, literature, and theology, from the shoemaker mystic Jacob Boehme to John Milton, from Robert Boyle to Margaret Cavendish, and from Thomas Browne to the fiery prophet Anna Trapnel, Kevin Killeen demonstrates how 17th-century writings repurposed the rich resources of the ineffable and the apophatic—what cannot be said, except in negative terms—to contemplate natural philosophy and the mysteries of the natural world.

Paradise Lost to thinkers in and around the Royal Society, and commentary on the Book of Job, The Unknowable in Early Modern Thought explores how the era of the scientific revolution was in part paralyzed by and in part energized by the paradox it encountered in thinking about the elusive nature of God and the unfathomable nature of the natural world. Looking at writers with scientific, literary, and theological interests, from the shoemaker mystic Jacob Boehme to John Milton, from Robert Boyle to Margaret Cavendish, and from Thomas Browne to the fiery prophet Anna Trapnel, Kevin Killeen shows how seventeenth-century writings redeployed the rich resources of the ineffable and the apophatic—what cannot be said, except in negative terms—to think about natural philosophy and the enigmas of the natural world.

Weight: 420g
Dimension: 152 x 229 x 19 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503635852