The Dangers of Curiosity: George Herbert, an Enemy of Science?
This essay argues that the danger of curiosity for Herbert should be understood in relation to the emerging and dynamic intellectual culture of his day; a culture which, explicitly or implicitly, threatened religious belief. It first briefly discusses the perturbation resulting from the impact of ne...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Institut du Monde Anglophone
2015-04-01
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| Series: | Etudes Epistémè |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/460 |
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| author | Christopher De Warrenne Waller |
| author_facet | Christopher De Warrenne Waller |
| author_sort | Christopher De Warrenne Waller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This essay argues that the danger of curiosity for Herbert should be understood in relation to the emerging and dynamic intellectual culture of his day; a culture which, explicitly or implicitly, threatened religious belief. It first briefly discusses the perturbation resulting from the impact of new learning as expressed by John Donne, a poet who greatly influenced Herbert, and then discusses Herbert’s attitude to reason (and its application, learning) in relation to faith, examining how scholars have tried to make sense of the faith/reason dichotomy in Herbert’s work. Generally speaking, they either insist on Herbert’s pro-scientific attitude or on his anti-scientific attitude. I argue that although Herbert’s early poetry expresses his attraction to the work of Francis Bacon, in Herbert’s attempts to negotiate divergent attitudes to learning a strongly anti-scientific vision predominates in The Temple. This essay examines in detail how Herbert articulates his conflicting attitudes to learning in his poetry, showing how Herbert’s admiration for learning is strongly qualified by his overriding recourse to traditional strictures against curiosity. Finally, it discusses Herbert’s relation to some of those strictures as they were expressed by Church Fathers. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-19dfe47dae484efbb6a3a599600de28d |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1634-0450 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-04-01 |
| publisher | Institut du Monde Anglophone |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Etudes Epistémè |
| spelling | doaj-art-19dfe47dae484efbb6a3a599600de28d2025-08-20T03:07:23ZengInstitut du Monde AnglophoneEtudes Epistémè1634-04502015-04-012710.4000/episteme.460The Dangers of Curiosity: George Herbert, an Enemy of Science?Christopher De Warrenne WallerThis essay argues that the danger of curiosity for Herbert should be understood in relation to the emerging and dynamic intellectual culture of his day; a culture which, explicitly or implicitly, threatened religious belief. It first briefly discusses the perturbation resulting from the impact of new learning as expressed by John Donne, a poet who greatly influenced Herbert, and then discusses Herbert’s attitude to reason (and its application, learning) in relation to faith, examining how scholars have tried to make sense of the faith/reason dichotomy in Herbert’s work. Generally speaking, they either insist on Herbert’s pro-scientific attitude or on his anti-scientific attitude. I argue that although Herbert’s early poetry expresses his attraction to the work of Francis Bacon, in Herbert’s attempts to negotiate divergent attitudes to learning a strongly anti-scientific vision predominates in The Temple. This essay examines in detail how Herbert articulates his conflicting attitudes to learning in his poetry, showing how Herbert’s admiration for learning is strongly qualified by his overriding recourse to traditional strictures against curiosity. Finally, it discusses Herbert’s relation to some of those strictures as they were expressed by Church Fathers.https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/460George HerbertscienceFrancis BaconPères de l'Eglise |
| spellingShingle | Christopher De Warrenne Waller The Dangers of Curiosity: George Herbert, an Enemy of Science? Etudes Epistémè George Herbert science Francis Bacon Pères de l'Eglise |
| title | The Dangers of Curiosity: George Herbert, an Enemy of Science? |
| title_full | The Dangers of Curiosity: George Herbert, an Enemy of Science? |
| title_fullStr | The Dangers of Curiosity: George Herbert, an Enemy of Science? |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Dangers of Curiosity: George Herbert, an Enemy of Science? |
| title_short | The Dangers of Curiosity: George Herbert, an Enemy of Science? |
| title_sort | dangers of curiosity george herbert an enemy of science |
| topic | George Herbert science Francis Bacon Pères de l'Eglise |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/episteme/460 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christopherdewarrennewaller thedangersofcuriositygeorgeherbertanenemyofscience AT christopherdewarrennewaller dangersofcuriositygeorgeherbertanenemyofscience |