Hey Billy, I really like the idea of introducing the reader to the Royal Society through Francis Bacon, and then looking at the travel writing they sponsored and seeing how Bacon's philosophy shaped their ethnographies. It might be useful to compare an ethnography published by the Royal Society to one that wasn't. Were there any substantive or structural differences? Did Bacon's ideas impede understanding cultures on their own terms, or did all Europeans struggle with the same prejudices? (etc)
Hi Billy, Your account seems to portray Bacon and his influence on the Royal Society in a very positive light, including suggesting that he is responsible for the modern scientific method (I didn't know that!). In reading that the Royal Society endorsed many of Bacon's ethnographic methods, I was left wondering: where did the society go wrong? If you do focus on the creation of a race science in discussing the Royal Society, will your suggestion be that explorers attempted to validate their prejudiced ideas by making them conform to categories and approaches that would have earned them the respect owed to science? Or were they more genuine, truly seeing through their ethnography what they were predisposed to see? What would Bacon have thought? I like the idea of discussing (at least briefly) what modern ethnography looks like and how it's different.
It's interesting that the Royal Society was founded on such principles of empiricism and Bacon's idea that a scientist should "free his or her mind from false notions that distort the truth," yet so much pseudoscience and racism existed until relatively recently. I suppose this is one of the central paradoxes of European thought. Given that, it might be hard to determine whether certain authors have actually succeeded in following Bacon's method and giving objective observations or whether they merely believe they have.
Maybe it would be interesting to analyze the differences between what Bacon promoted (empiricism, the scientific method) and what was actually published in ethnographic reports, especially since this was the time period when racism crystalized in European thought.
I agree with Aysha. I think the idea of the Royal Society you portray is a very positive one. It would be interesting to reflect on how through their process of race creation their own prejudices and predetermined notions come through. Im not sure if this is completely related, but Religion at this time played a huge role. Was the Royal Societies investigation part of their religious interest, or was it trying to get out of the traditional religious reflections?
Hey Billy, This sounds really great. I'm gonna pay close attention to your updates, because my paper touches on the Royal Society too. I've been thinking about the political transformation exemplified in the way that the state contracted explorers with the Royal Society (in the name of science, instead of in the name of exploration itself or for the prestige of the English nation), but you suggest an even broader transformation-- one in epistemology. Seems like a really important and interesting moment to focus on in the history of exploration and ethnography.
On another note, have you come across Bacon's utopian novel/tract called The New Atlantis? There's something weird and interesting about they way it combines the idea of an ideal science and the idea of a foreign land. I wonder if there's any relationship to the Royal Society's interest in exploration?
Great job so far! I am wondering do you have the "specific travel accounts supported by the Society" that you mentioned? It would be useful for you to see as you stated how well they corresponded to the ideal methods supported by the group...
Also, when you say that you will explore how "ethnography as it exists today" is, what sources will you be using? will you directly compare this to Bacon's work or the Royal Society's?
Hi Billy, I have two questions about your topic, both questions of 'why is this significant?' First, why is the Royal Society special in its influence by Francis Bacon? If British society and science as a whole were embracing Bacon's ideas, why the focus here on the Royal Society? (I know its because you started with the society and traced your work back to Bacon, but you should make a strong case for why this is special in your paper). And second, how exactly will you show that the Society's travel accounts (following Bacon's theories of observation and induction) were influential to British society at large?
Hey Billy,
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of introducing the reader to the Royal Society through Francis Bacon, and then looking at the travel writing they sponsored and seeing how Bacon's philosophy shaped their ethnographies. It might be useful to compare an ethnography published by the Royal Society to one that wasn't. Were there any substantive or structural differences? Did Bacon's ideas impede understanding cultures on their own terms, or did all Europeans struggle with the same prejudices? (etc)
Hi Billy,
ReplyDeleteYour account seems to portray Bacon and his influence on the Royal Society in a very positive light, including suggesting that he is responsible for the modern scientific method (I didn't know that!). In reading that the Royal Society endorsed many of Bacon's ethnographic methods, I was left wondering: where did the society go wrong? If you do focus on the creation of a race science in discussing the Royal Society, will your suggestion be that explorers attempted to validate their prejudiced ideas by making them conform to categories and approaches that would have earned them the respect owed to science? Or were they more genuine, truly seeing through their ethnography what they were predisposed to see? What would Bacon have thought? I like the idea of discussing (at least briefly) what modern ethnography looks like and how it's different.
Hi Billy,
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the Royal Society was founded on such principles of empiricism and Bacon's idea that a scientist should "free his or her mind from false notions that distort the truth," yet so much pseudoscience and racism existed until relatively recently. I suppose this is one of the central paradoxes of European thought. Given that, it might be hard to determine whether certain authors have actually succeeded in following Bacon's method and giving objective observations or whether they merely believe they have.
Maybe it would be interesting to analyze the differences between what Bacon promoted (empiricism, the scientific method) and what was actually published in ethnographic reports, especially since this was the time period when racism crystalized in European thought.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aysha. I think the idea of the Royal Society you portray is a very positive one. It would be interesting to reflect on how through their process of race creation their own prejudices and predetermined notions come through. Im not sure if this is completely related, but Religion at this time played a huge role. Was the Royal Societies investigation part of their religious interest, or was it trying to get out of the traditional religious reflections?
ReplyDeleteMackenzie Tudor
Hey Billy,
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really great. I'm gonna pay close attention to your updates, because my paper touches on the Royal Society too. I've been thinking about the political transformation exemplified in the way that the state contracted explorers with the Royal Society (in the name of science, instead of in the name of exploration itself or for the prestige of the English nation), but you suggest an even broader transformation-- one in epistemology. Seems like a really important and interesting moment to focus on in the history of exploration and ethnography.
On another note, have you come across Bacon's utopian novel/tract called The New Atlantis? There's something weird and interesting about they way it combines the idea of an ideal science and the idea of a foreign land. I wonder if there's any relationship to the Royal Society's interest in exploration?
Hi Billy,
ReplyDeleteGreat job so far! I am wondering do you have the
"specific travel accounts supported by the Society" that you mentioned? It would be useful for you to see as you stated how well they corresponded to the ideal methods supported by the group...
Also, when you say that you will explore how "ethnography as it exists today" is, what sources will you be using? will you directly compare this to Bacon's work or the Royal Society's?
Hi Billy,
ReplyDeleteI have two questions about your topic, both questions of 'why is this significant?' First, why is the Royal Society special in its influence by Francis Bacon? If British society and science as a whole were embracing Bacon's ideas, why the focus here on the Royal Society? (I know its because you started with the society and traced your work back to Bacon, but you should make a strong case for why this is special in your paper). And second, how exactly will you show that the Society's travel accounts (following Bacon's theories of observation and induction) were influential to British society at large?