End of the Soul - Scientific Modernity, Atheism, and Anthropology in France

Informationen zum Autor Jennifer Hecht Klappentext On October 19! 1876 a group of leading French citizens! both men and women included! joined together to form an unusual group! The Society of Mutual Autopsy! with the aim of proving that souls do not exist. The idea was that! after death! they would dissect one another and (hopefully) show a direct relationship between brain shapes and sizes and the character! abilities and intelligence of individuals. This strange scientific pact! and indeed what we have come to think of as anthropology! which the group's members helped to develop! had its genesis in aggressive! evangelical atheism.With this group as its focus! The End of the Soul is a study of science and atheism in France in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It shows that anthropology grew in the context of an impassioned struggle between the forces of tradition! especially the Catholic faith! and those of a more freethinking modernism! and moreover that it became for many a secular religion. Among the adherents of this new faith discussed here are the novelist Emile Zola! the great statesman Leon Gambetta! the American birth control advocate Margaret Sanger! and Arthur Conan Doyle! whose Sherlock Holmes embodied the triumph of ratiocination over credulity.Boldly argued! full of colorful characters and often bizarre battles over science and faith! this book represents a major contribution to the history of science and European intellectual history. Zusammenfassung On October 19! 1876 a group of leading French citizens! joined together to form the Society of Mutual Autopsy! with the aim of proving that souls do not exist. With this group as its focus! The End of the Soul is a study of science and atheism in France in late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It shows that anthropology grew out of a struggle between tradition (especially Catholicism) and modernism! and that it became for many a secular religion! with such adherents as Emile Zola! Margaret Sanger! and Arthur Conan Doyle. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction: The End of the Soul1. The Society of Mutual Autopsy and the Liturgy of Death2. Evangelical Atheism and the Rise of French Anthropology3. Scientific Materialism and the Public Response4. Careers in Anthropology and the Bertillon Family5. No Soul! No Morality: Vacher de Lapouge6. Body and Soul: LÇonce Manouvrier and the Disappearing Numbers7. The Leftist Critique of Determinist Science8. CodaConclusion ...

Product details

• Authors: Jennifer Hecht, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Hecht Jennifer
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 20.12.2005
• EAN: 9780231128476
• ISBN: 978-0-231-12847-6
• No. of pages: 416
• Dimensions: 146 mm x 216 mm x 25 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > Miscellaneous; France, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, Anthropology, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / General, RELIGION / Atheism, RELIGION / Agnosticism, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Agnosticism and atheism, Agnosticism & Atheism