Skip to content

Booksellers & Trade Customers: Sign up for online bulk buying at trade.atlanticbooks.com for wholesale discounts

Booksellers: Create Account on our B2B Portal for wholesale discounts

A Culture of Fact: England, 1550-1720

by Barbara J. Shapiro
Save 17% Save 17%
Current price ₹4,460.00
Original price ₹5,352.00
Original price ₹5,352.00
Original price ₹5,352.00
(-17%)
₹4,460.00
Current price ₹4,460.00

Imported Edition - Ships in 18-21 Days

Free Shipping in India on orders above Rs. 500

Request Bulk Quantity Quote
+91
Book cover type: Paperback
  • ISBN13: 9780801488498
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Subject: N/A
  • Publisher: Cornell University Press
  • Publisher Imprint: Cornell University Press
  • Publication Date:
  • Pages: 296
  • Original Price: USD 39.95
  • Language: English
  • Edition: N/A
  • Item Weight: 404 grams
  • BISAC Subject(s): Europe / Great Britain / General, History, and Legal History

Barbara J. Shapiro traces the surprising genesis of the "fact," a modern concept that, she convincingly demonstrates, originated not in natural science but in legal discourse. She follows the concept's evolution and diffusion across a variety of disciplines in early modern England, examining how the emerging "culture of fact" shaped the epistemological assumptions of each intellectual enterprise.Drawing on an astonishing breadth of research, Shapiro probes the fact's changing identity from an alleged human action to a proven natural or human happening. The crucial first step in this transition occurred in the sixteenth century when English common law established a definition of fact which relied on eyewitnesses and testimony. The concept widened to cover natural as well as human events as a result of developments in news reportage and travel writing. Only then, Shapiro discovers, did scientific philosophy adopt the category "fact." With Francis Bacon advocating more stringent criteria, the witness became a vital component in scientific observation and experimentation. Shapiro also recounts how England's preoccupation with the fact influenced historiography, religion, and literature--which saw the creation of a fact-oriented fictional genre, the novel.

Shapiro, Barbara J.: - Barbara J. Shapiro is Professor of Rhetoric Emerita at the University of California, Berkeley. Her books include Beyond Reasonable Doubt and Probable Cause: Historical Perspectives on the Anglo-American Law of Evidence and Probability and Certainty in Seventeenth-Century England.

Trusted for over 49 years

Family Owned Company

Secure Payment

All Major Credit Cards/Debit Cards/UPI & More Accepted

New & Authentic Products

India's Largest Distributor

Need Support?

Whatsapp Us