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The Aesthetic Aspect of Knowledge Acquisition in the European Renaissance and Early Modern Period
Avxentevskaya, Maria ; Procházka, Martin (advisor) ; Pfister, Manfred (referee) ; Vermeir, Koen (referee)
Maria Avxentevskaya How to discover things with words? John Wilkins: from inventio to invention Abstract in English My doctoral thesis explores the functions of rhetorical and dialectical devices in the argumentative style of John Wilkins (1614−1672). My study traces the development of his discursive techniques in scientific narratives, theological writings, and linguistic treatises, with the aim to examine how the interplay between cognitive and performative language enhanced early-modern practices of knowledge-making. I argue that the procedures of dialectical rhetoric, apart from being popular perlocutionary tools, were effective as heuristic instruments. Language was one of the important agents in the performing of science, and my study employs the concept of "performative knowing" as a key to Wilkins's dialectical and scientific inventions. The idea of performative knowing straddles several constituents derived from the analytic philosophy and speech act theory. From this perspective, Wilkins's undertakings appear as a coherent exercise in the art of making knowledge through persuasive communication. My thesis explores how Wilkins's argumentative method departs from baroque rhetorical flair of The Discovery of a World in the Moone (1638), explores the capacity of rhetoric to impart scientific...
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