Joseph Priestley and the intellectual culture of rational dissent, 1752-1796
Recent scholarship on the eighteenth-century polymath Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) has focused on his work as a pioneering scientist, a controversial Unitarian polemicist, and a radical political theorist. This thesis provides an extensive analysis of his comparatively neglected philosophical writings. It situates Priestleyâs philosophy in the theological context of eighteenth-century rational dissent, and argues that his ideas on ethics, materialism, and determinism came to provide a philosophical foundation for the Socinian theology which came to prominence among Presbyterian congregations in the last decades of the century. Throughout the thesis I stress the importance of rational debate to the development of Priestleyâs ideas. The chapters are thus structured around a series of Priestleyâs engagements with contemporary figures: chapter 1 traces his intellectual development in the context of the debates over moral philosophy and the freedom of the will at the Daventry and Warrington dissenting academies; chapter 2 examines his response to the Scottish âcommon senseâ philosophers, Thomas Reid, James Beattie, and James Oswald; chapter 3 examines his writings on materialism and philosophical necessity
Mills, Simon
English Literature
Joseph Priestley and the intellectual culture of rational dissent, 1752-1796. Recent scholarship on the eighteenth-century polymath Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) has focused on his work as a pioneering scientist, a controversial Unitarian polemicist, and a radical political theorist. This thesis provides an extensive analysis of his comparatively neglected philosophical writings. It situates Priestleyâs philosophy in the theological context of eighteenth-century rational dissent, and argues that his ideas on ethics, materialism, and determinism came to provide a philosophical foundation for the Socinian theology which came to prominence among Presbyterian congregations in the last decades of the century. Throughout the thesis I stress the importance of rational debate to the development of Priestleyâs ideas. The chapters are thus structured around a series of Priestleyâs engagements with contemporary figures: chapter 1 traces his intellectual development in the context of the debates over moral philosophy and the freedom of the will at the Daventry and Warrington dissenting academies; chapter 2 examines his response to the Scottish âcommon senseâ philosophers, Thomas Reid, James Beattie, and James Oswald; chapter 3 examines his writings on materialism and philosophical necessity
intellectual_culture rational dissent recent_scholarship eighteenth_century focus work pioneer scientist controversial unitarian polemicist radical political theorist provide extensive_analysis comparatively neglected philosophical_writing situates philosophy theological context eighteenth_century rational dissent argue idea ethic materialism determinism come provide philosophical_foundation theology come prominence among presbyterian congregation throughout stress_importance rational debate development idea thus structure_around series engagement contemporary figure trace intellectual development context debate moral_philosophy freedom dissenting academy examines response scottish common_sense philosopher thomas_reid james james examines writing materialism philosophical necessity