My thesis explores the issue of personal identity in the literary career of Anna Laetitia Barbauld (1743--1825), situating her within the context of contemporary debate over the nature of identity and the self, first initiated by John Locke in the second edition of An Essay concerning Human Understanding (1694), and his contention "that self is not determined by Identity...of Substance...but only by Identity of consciousness" (2.27.23). The term substance first appears in Aristotle's definition of man as a vital union of matter and substance, a definition later absorbed into the Christian view of man as a vital union of body and soul, or material and immaterial substance. Without denying the existence of substance, Locke considers it an inadequate foundation for a theory of personal identity. As he argues, substance is beyond the scope of human knowledge, and therefore cannot assure us of the continuity of the self. Only our knowledge of consciousness can give us confidence in the continuity of the self. Chapter one presents evidence of Barbauld's interest in the debate over personal identity, followed by a detailed account of Locke's theory of self-in-consciousness, and a discussion of its implications with respect to both class and gender. Chapter two traces the history of Barbauld's engagement in the debate over personal identity. As I argue, Barbauld gradually adopts Locke's position on identity, while still upholding the essential truth of the orthodox Christian view of the self. Chapters three and four investigate the way in which Barbauld's simultaneous endorsement of the theories of self-in-consciousness and self-as-substance informs both her political and feminist ideology. In chapters five, six, and seven, I examine how the complex legacy of Locke's theory of personal identity influences the progress of Barbauld's literary career, as she draws upon it to consolidate her position as a woman writer, and to develop her aesthetic theory.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/8984 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Ready, Kathryn (Kate). |
| Contributors | Oerlemans, Onno, |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 391 p. |
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