Interdisciplinary Study of Acceptance of Atomism and Transformation of Scientific and Utopian Discourse in Early Modern Era

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K02291
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Fukushima University
• Principal Investigator: KAWATA Jun 福島大学, 人間発達文化学類, 教授 (70323186)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 原子論 / 主体 / ユートピア / 肉体 / 魂 / 共同体

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examined the influence of atomism which was reevaluated in the early modern era on both "scientific" thoughts and utopian discourse. With the (re-)acceptance of atomism, "science" could escape from the framework of "God's Creation" and became a discipline on material things. At the same time, utopian thoughts could escape from didactic and moralistic stories and became a discourse on communities and human beings in a material world from the late seventeenth century. In this study, by examining the relationship between scientific and utopian discourse, the process of constructing new interrelationships among science, nation state and subjects in the modern era were made clear.

Free Research Field

英米文学