Osvícenství a věda v českých zemích 18. století
Enlightenment and Science in the Bohemian Lands in Eighteenth Century

Summary/Abstract: This study focuses on interpreting the relation between Enlightenment thinking in general and ‘scientific’ thought. The first part is dedicated to four ‘new’ elements which appeared on a conceptual and epistemological level. First of all, thinking in terms of systems, secondly, acknowledgement of history and development, thirdly, the notion of power, and finally, a ‘discovery’ of the phenomenon of life. The author also deals with three new phenomena which at this time appear in the social sphere. First of all, new forms of scholarly and academic sociability, secondly, industrialisation and early stages of capitalism, and finally, vernacularisation of knowledge. In the second part, the author outlines the specific features of environment in the Bohemian Lands, including factors which hampered or complicated institutionalisation of science and scientific life.

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