LEADER 03759nam 22005894a 450 001 9910149172903321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-8047-7991-0 024 7 $a10.1515/9780804779913 035 $a(CKB)1000000000001920 035 $a(OCoLC)70770613 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10042876 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000278415 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11255526 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000278415 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10246157 035 $a(PQKB)11671713 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3037442 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3037442 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10042876 035 $a(OCoLC)923699712 035 $a(DE-B1597)582161 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780804779913 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000001920 100 $a20010523d2001 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aCulture of accidents$b[electronic resource] $eunexpected knowledges in early modern England /$fMichael Witmore 210 $aStanford, Calif. $cStanford University Press$d2001 215 $a1 online resource (236 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-8047-3556-5 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [205]-218) and index. 327 $tFrontmatter -- $tAcknowledgments -- $tContents -- $tNote on Modernization -- $tIntroduction: A Narrative Wonder -- $t1 Early Modern Accidents and an Aristotelian Tradition -- $t2 Exemplary Accidents from Cicero to Jean Calvin -- $t3 The Avoidance of Ends in The Comedy of Errors -- $t4 Hamlet Interrupted -- $t5 Accident and the Invention of Knowledge in Francis Bacon's Natural Philosophy -- $t6 Wonders Taken for Signs: The Blackfriars Accident of 1623 -- $tEpilogue -- $tNotes -- $tBibliography -- $tIndex 330 $aCollapsing buildings, unexpected meetings in the marketplace, monstrous births, encounters with pirates at sea?these and other unforeseen ?accidents? at the turn of the seventeenth century in England acquired unprecedented significance in the early modern philosophical and cultural imagination. Drawing on intellectual history, cultural criticism, and rhetorical theory, this book chronicles the narrative transformation of ?accident? from a philosophical dead end to an astonishing occasion for revelation and wonder in early modern religious life, dramatic practice, and experimental philosophy. Embracing the notion that accident was a concept with both learned and popular appeal, the book traces its evolution through Aristotelian, Scholastic, and Calvinist thought into a range of early modern texts. It suggests that for many English writers, accidental events raised fundamental questions about the nature of order in the world and the way that order should be apprehended. Alongside texts by such canonical figures as Shakespeare and Bacon, this study draws on several lesser-known authors of sensational news accounts about accidents that occurred around the turn of the seventeenth century. The result is a cultural anatomy of accidents as philosophical problem, theatrical conceit, spiritual landmark, and even a prototype for Baconian ?experiment,? one that provides a fresh interpretation of the early modern engagement with contingency in intellectual and cultural terms. 606 $aAccidents$xHistory 606 $aPhilosophy, English 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aAccidents$xHistory. 615 0$aPhilosophy, English. 676 $a111/.1 700 $aWitmore$b Michael$0882520 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910149172903321 996 $aCulture of accidents$92020863 997 $aUNINA