Negotiating the 'Physiological Turn'

In early nineteenth century Scotland, authors of§practical philosophies expressed as passionate an§interest in philosophical enquiries as their§predecessors of the Enlightenment. The intensity of§their quest for knowledge also testified of a new§attitude towards it. In their diaries,§pamphlets, books, and other writings, they tied an§intimate relation to knowledge which, they explained,§led them to feverish attempts at experiencing it. The§phrenologist George Combe, the natural scientist§David Brewster, the geologist Hugh Miller, all§belonged to this movement and they expressed a level§of intimacy with knowledge that fundamentally changed§their understanding of it. Knowledge was something to§be experienced and also, ultimately, something under§which the philosopher was to develop a new sense of§subjection. This led one contemporary writer to§explain this epistemological change as the§negotiation of a physiological turn in Scottish§philosophy. The aim of this book is to illustrate and§describe the process of this physiological turn using§a variety of sources and writings. It is a§contribution towards cultural history in Scotland and§the history of the Scottish Enlightenment.