This study examines the character of colonial American newspaper science to understand how and to what extent the newspaper contributed to the movement of information between those engaged in science and the public. It explores the issue of the origins of science and the press in America and characterizes the public role of enlightenment science in articles and advertisements pertaining to matters of health, invention and the natural world. The focus is on the mid-Atlantic region of colonial American newspapers including all the extant issues of the Pennsylvania Gazette, Maryland Gazette, Virginia Gazette, and American Weekly Mercury between the years 1728 to 1765. This study aims at informing the discussions of Enlightenment thought in colonial America and the role the newspaper played in the public acceptance of the processes of natural philosophy. The findings reveal that in the eighteenth century the colonial American newspaper became the textual locus through which the negotiations of what would and would not constitute acceptable public explanations of numerous subjects, including natural phenomena, were played out. Along with the public lecture, the newspaper became a primary device where actors and artifacts made legitimizing natural claims to a larger audience and enlisted allies in both scientific and broader disputes. In this way the American colonies paralleled Britain which had seen an increase in the public witnessing of an empirical natural philosophy and an appeal to economic and social gain for that philosophy since the late seventeenth century. In order to enroll a broader constituency, natural philosophers used the newspaper to argue for the value of rational and empirical exploration and its products in everyday affairs, matters of state, and even entertainment. Despite the negotiation through the pages of the general periodical, and despite the lack of strong differentiation between "virtuosi" and "lay" philosophers, the newspaper seldom became a principle place of exchange for the theory and practice of science between those doing science. With some notable and interesting exceptions, the public infrequently became privy to vanguard scientific theory and scientific disputes or enjoyed direct participation through the newspaper. Nevertheless, in eighteenth-century British America, the drive for public acceptance of natural philosophical explanations by those engaged in its explorations made the representative power of the newspaper critical to the success of science. By promoting an empirical view of the world the newspaper helped create a contemporary science, science communication and a society, that to varying degrees accepted the practices of science. / Ph. D.

In recent years, the relationship between religion and Enlightenment, traditionally cast in opposition to one another, has received increasing reconsideration. Scholars now recognise that even orthodox religion played a central role within the Enlightenment project. This development has marked a paradigm shift in Atlantic world and Enlightenment historiography. However, while the relationship between religion and Enlightenment has been greatly clarified, there remain major gaps in our understanding of the nature and parameters of this relationship. This thesis contributes to the understanding of religion’s function within Enlightenment thought and practice through a case study of the colonial missionary work of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge (SSPCK). Using primary sources such as institutional records, sermons, journals, diaries and letters, it examines evangelism within the framework of the Enlightenment. The study demonstrates first how both the founders of the SSPCK and the Society’s most fervent advocates of missionary work in the colonies were simultaneously the foremost leaders of the British and American Enlightenment. It then traces the implications of this religious Enlightenment dynamic, illuminating not only the ambitions of the Society’s leadership but also certain contours of intimate encounters between Native Americans, Native Christians and white missionaries. As the SSPCK’s missionary endeavours demonstrate, the relationship between evangelism and Enlightenment not only changed all individuals and institutions involved. It also transformed the very landscape of British Protestant religion. This assessment points to the overarching conclusion that the Enlightenment shaped the very foundation of modern missions. In the process, however, British Atlantic Protestants of many different varieties wove the discourse of the Enlightenment into the tapestry of their understanding of evangelism as a primary means of identity formation, both personally and institutionally. Historiographically, this research forces a reexamination of the nuances of the religious Enlightenment. It also problematizes the static (albeit dominant) interpretation of evangelicalism by observing its emergence in light of the broader conditions of British Atlantic Protestantism.

Although many historians assert the unity of the Enlightenment, their histories essentially belie this notion. Consequently, Enlightenment history is confused and meaningless, urging the reader to believe that diversity is similarity and faction is unity. Fundamental among the common denominators of these various interpretations, however, are the scientific method and empirical observation, as introduced by Newton. These, historians acclaim as the turning point when mankind escaped the ignorance of superstition and the oppression of the church, and embarked upon the modern secular age. The Enlightenment, however, founders immediately upon its own standards of empiricism and demonstrable philosophical tenets, with the exception of David Hume. As the most consistent and fearless empiricist of the era, Hume's is by far the most "legitimate" philosophy of the Enlightenment, but it starkly contrasts the rhetoric and ideology of the philosophe community, and, therefore, defies attempts by historians to incorporate it into the traditional Enlightenment picture. Hume, then, exposes the Enlightenment dilemma: either the Enlightenment is not empirical, but rather the new Age of Faith Carl Becker proclaimed it, or Enlightenment philosophy is that of Hume. This study presents the historical characterization of major Enlightenment themes, such as method, reason, religion, morality, and politics, then juxtaposes this picture with the particulars (data) that contradict or seriously qualify it. As a result, much superficial analysis, wishful thinking, even proselytizing is demonstrated in the traditional Enlightenment characterization, especially with regard to the widely heralded liberal and progressive legacy of the era. In contrast, Hume's conclusions, based on the method of Newton-the essence of "enlightened" philosophy, are presented, revealing the authoritarian character (and legacy) of the Enlightenment as well as the utility and relevance of its method when honestly and rigorously applied. Through David Hume, the twentieth century can truly acquire what the Enlightenment promised—an understanding of human nature and a genuinely secular society.

Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science / Kimberly W. Kramer / Prior to the Age of Enlightenment, arches were designed by empirical rules based off of previous successes or failures. The Age of Enlightenment brought about the emergence of statics and mechanics, which scholars promptly applied to masonry arch analysis and design. Masonry was assumed to be infinitely strong, so the scholars concerned themselves mainly with arch stability. Early Age of Enlightenment scholars defined the path of the compression force in the arch, or the shape of the true arch, as a catenary, while most scholars studying arches used statics with some mechanics to idealize the behavior of arches. These scholars can be broken into two categories, those who neglected friction and those who included it. The scholars of the first half of the 18th century understood the presence of friction, but it was not able to be quantified until the second half of the century. The advancements made during the Age of Enlightenment were the foundation for structural engineering as it is known today. The statics and mechanics used by the 17th and 18th century scholars are the same used by structural engineers today with changes only in the assumptions made in order to idealize an arch. While some assumptions have proved to be incorrect, many correctly interpreted behavior and were able to formulate equations for design and analysis that were successfully used to create arches that were structurally sound and more efficient than arches designed by empirical methods. This insight into design during the 18th and 19th centuries can help modern engineers better analyze and restore arches from this era and protect our architectural and engineering history.

This thesis maps the different geographical processes by which people in Enlightenment Edinburgh encountered, understood and ordered space. It analyses the knowledge-making practices that were an integral part of Enlightenment reasoning, and that contributed to the construction of Edinburgh’s identity as an Enlightenment capital. In particular, it focuses on four aspects of mapping: planning, surveying, travelling, and compiling. The thesis explores how people in Enlightenment Edinburgh made sense of their city, their environs, their nation, and their world via these placed and place-making geographical processes. It focuses intimately on the work of planners, surveyors, travellers and compilers. It is concerned, moreover, with the transmission of plans, surveys, travel accounts and geographical compilations, and with the people who constituted a receptive commercial audience for them. The discussion makes use of a diverse range of sources, including manuscript maps of the New Town and the confessional diary of a hack writer, but it is primarily based on the substantial business ledgers of two Edinburgh booksellers, which cover the period 1771- 1809. By analysing the production and performance of the geographical works that were bought by the city’s inhabitants, this thesis demonstrates that Enlightenment mapping was the process by which the authority of vernacular spatial knowledges was replaced by a professedly ‘scientific’ paradigm. By emphasising the vernacular subjectivities of the production and performance of Enlightenment maps, however, the thesis denaturalises and challenges the legacy of Enlightenment.

All kinds of management issues in practical operation of organization would be confronted with human heart. Therefore, many methods in management have to take human heart into account and try to change behavior of mankind. However, only few attempts have so far made at spirit transformation in the field of business management. The purpose of this paper is to explore spirit transformation through FaLun Gong practitioner's experiencing and understanding process. This research, in its process, is conducted by hermeneutic phenomenological methodology, attempting to interpret the inner part of the practitioner's heart and their profoundly hidden meanings. All texts are collected from In-depth Inteviewing with a FaLun Gong practitioner and from autobiography of other three practitioner's. The result of the studying is that practitioners are able to be True, Good, Endure and to get rid of attachments gradually. From 99¡¦ the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) start to persecute the FaLun Gong practitioner, but the way of practitioners continue resisting persecutions peacefully embodies the spirit of True, Good, and Endurance. There are three conclusions to this section of the thesis: 1) Telling the truth to other persons with standing their ground embodies the spirit of True, Good, and Endurance. 2) The way of enlightening persons on humanity is charity. 3) Improving of character is firm , hence standing their ground is not out of an impulse. Furthermore, following four factors result spirit transformation are obtained: 1. Three factors of the law of Falun DaFa : (1) To direct at the human mind (2) The law of Dafa give practitioner power (3) To influence and reform people 2. Experiencing or feeling the truth of matter and mind are one and the same. 3. To point out wrong of certain persons and to make them realize it by warning. 4. Communication with practitioner. As hermeneutic circle, the exploration of this research is endless. Therefore, the worth of our study is not to obtain conclusions but to bring its meaning, that is, we ought to value character of the human mind is not vague and general because of the practitioner experience the matter and mind are one and the same.

This study focuses on Hegel¡¦s national philosophy."Philosophy of right" explains the spirit of the law¡Xfreedom. People¡¦s freedom lives, constitution and the social security system are the responsibility of a modern state. This article will find that the Constitution is the fundament of the state, because the constitution guarantees people¡¦s freedom and the rights. National study of Hegel's thought focuses on objective spirit, because country serves the population as a whole. Freedom, equality, and love that are what people need. French Revolution, in which era people pursued human dignity, is a milestone. This article emphasizes on human dignity, which is also the thought of Hegel's philosophy. The state, which implements at law, protects human dignity. Renaissance caused people to rethink the human values. Human beings believe that people can move toward a better life by their own efforts. The faith, man can triumph over nature, is the belief in this era. People can manage their owns as long as the Fair and justice legal system as protection. Hegel considered the country needs a constitution, because the Constitution is the common will of the people¡¦s, therefore, the state is that the common will of the people¡¦s. Human beings are yearning freedom, but freedom is not owned by everyone. People strive for freedom, which shows in French Revolution. Hegel was longing for the ideal of pursuit of freedom in French Revolution. This report, studies relationship between philosophy of law, equality and the constitution, as well as social security and fraternity, which bases on freedom, equality, fraternity ideals,and freedom. The target of modern country is the law, freedom and security.

European Enlightenment culture was a fundamental locus for the emergence and conceptualization of what has come to be called the "modern public sphere." In this study I analyse the figure of "the public" during roughly the third quarter of the eighteenth-century, primarily as refracted in the writings of three prominent German Aufklarer, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Thomas Abbt, and Johann Gottfried Herder. Scholarly discussion about the emergence of a German public sphere and "public opinion" has tended to focus on the latter decades of the eighteenth- century, with little awareness of the fact that earlier on, the notion of a "public" itself was being constituted and contested by "public writers" like Lessing, Abbt and Herder. This occurred within the context of what I am calling "the problem of Publikum," the particular German problem of social and political fragmentation. The writings of Lessing, Abbt arid Herder can be profitably understood as mediating between the wider European Republic of Letters and a more circumscribed, problematical German Publikum. By reading their works in light of Enlightenment discourses of science, sociability, aesthetics and politics-discourses that in one way or another touched upon the issue of a modern "public"--as well as in view of the "problem of Publikum" and the German social and intellectual scene generally, I am able to connect their intellectual content both with wider European currents and local German socio-political concerns. I argue that Lessing's dramatic and literary-critical work sought to constitute a German public that was both sympathetically responsive yet critically distanced from itself. Abbt, painfully aware of the "problem of Publikum," strove to inscribe a public sphere in the idiom of patriotism and morals. And Herder's intervention in an emerging German public sphere can be understood as building on the work of Abbt and Lessing to theorize the relationship between language, literature and the Publikum in a complex vision of "organic enlightenment." The dissertation employs a variety of primary and secondary sources, including works by an array of European thinkers who played a role in Lessing, Abbt and Herder's intellectual development. And it theorizes the developments profiled in light of contemporary theories of the public sphere and the social-psychology of George H. Mead, engaging questions of personal and social identity, inclusion/exclusion, and gender.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, March 2008.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Breslau, 1930. / Includes bibliographical references (p. vii-ix).