An Utterly Incomplete Look at Research from 1874 - Brett Mullins – Researcher - Data Scientist

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2024-11-23 17:00:04

This series looks at research from years past. I survey a handful of books and articles in a particular year from math, economics, philosophy, international relations, and other interesting topics. This project was inspired by my retrospective on Foreign Affairs' first issue from September 1922.

1874 is a pivotal year in intellectual history. Or, at least, it’s a year in which two important mathematical seeds were planted. Léon Walras’ mathematical approach to economics completed the trio of books that led to the marginal revolution and introduced general equilibrium analysis. Georg Cantor published his proof that the set of real numbers is uncountable that led to the development of set theory.

A common theme in the selections below is materialism versus idealism. John Tyndall’s address to the British Association argues that naturalistic approaches to philosophy and science have been stymied by spooky approaches throughout the history of thought. John Draper argues that science and religion are inherently at odds. George Henry Lewes pokes holes in the speculative reasoning of Hegelianism and contrasts it with the analytical approach of Lagrange. In the other direction, F. H. Bradley argues that the historian’s task is complicated by the subjectivity and fallibility of testimony, presumably compromising additional enterprises.

I most enjoyed reading two books: Henry Sidgwick’s The Methods of Ethics and William Stanley Jevons’ The Principles of Science. Sidgwick’s book is a comprehensive study of nineteenth century moral philosophy that argues for utilitarianism. Jevons’ book is a wide-ranging account of scientific reasoning that’s bursting with interesting ideas and argues for a logical account of induction. If I’ve missed anything interesting from 1874 that you enjoy, shoot an email my way at brettcmullins(at)gmail.com.

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