Truth but not science? George Berkeley and the politics of mathematical authority in the Analyst Controversy.

This article reframes the Analyst Controversy, incited by George Berkeley's incendiary tract The Analyst: A Discourse Addressed to an Infidel Mathematician (1734), as not merely a debate about Newtonian fluxions but as a conflict over epistemic authority and competing ideas and ideals of reason in t...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Annals of Science Vol. 82; no. 4; pp. 528 - 586
Autor principal: Tomasson, Julia
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Oct2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=188362572&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 188362572
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00033790
        7J1
      jtl: Annals of Science
      issn: 00033790
      maglogo: Y
    pubinfo:
      dt: Oct2025
      vid: 82
      iid: 4
      pid: 377
      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
    artinfo:
      ui:
        188362572
        10.1080/00033790.2025.2538447
      ppf: 528
      ppct: 58
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
              size: 1.1MB
      tig:
        atl: Truth but not science? George Berkeley and the politics of mathematical authority in the Analyst Controversy.
      aug:
        au: Tomasson, Julia
        affil: Department of History, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
      su:
        History of mathematics
        Early modern history
        Social epistemology
        Locke, John, 1632-1704
        Newton, Isaac, 1642-1727
        Mathematicians
        Social context
      sug:
        subj:
          History of mathematics
          Early modern history
          Social epistemology
          Locke, John, 1632-1704
          Newton, Isaac, 1642-1727
          Mathematicians
          Social context
      keyword:
        early modern science
        George Berkeley (1685–1753)
        history of mathematics
        Isaac Newton (1642–1727)
        John Locke (1632–1704)
        scientific controversy
        The Analyst
      ab: This article reframes the Analyst Controversy, incited by George Berkeley's incendiary tract The Analyst: A Discourse Addressed to an Infidel Mathematician (1734), as not merely a debate about Newtonian fluxions but as a conflict over epistemic authority and competing ideas and ideals of reason in the Age of Reason. While often treated as a technical episode in the history of calculus, the controversy also reveals deeper tensions about the legitimate production of mathematical knowledge and the status of its truths. By situating the controversy in the broader social and political context of Augustan Britain, this article argues that Berkeley's critique challenged not only the foundations of Newtonian mathematics but also the Lockean social epistemology and Whig ideologies of order in which they were embedded.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: Copyright of Annals of Science is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.
      item: Annals of Science
      holder: Taylor & Francis Ltd
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2025
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N