The Wild Girl, Natural Man, and the Monster (Paperback, 2nd Ed.)

This study looks at the lives of the most famous "wild children" of eighteenth-century Europe, showing how they open a window onto European ideas about the potential and perfectibility of mankind. Julia V. Douthwaite recounts reports of feral children, such as the wild girl of Champagne (captured in 1731 and baptized as Marie-Angelique Leblanc), and offers a fascinating glimpse into beliefs about the difference between man and beast, and the means once used to civilize the uncivilized. A variety of educational experiments failed to tame these feral children by the standards of the day. After telling their stories, Douthwaite turns to literature that reflects upon similar experiments to perfect human subjects. Her examples range from utopian schemes for progressive childrearing to philosophical tales of animated statues, from revolutionary theories of regenerated men to Gothic tales of scientists run amok. Encompassing thinkers such as Rousseau, Sade, Defoe, and Mary Shelley as well as many lesser-known diarists, journalists, scientists, and novelists, Douthwaite shows how the Enlightenment conceived of mankind as an infinitely malleable entity, first with optimism, then with growing apprehension. Exposing the darker side of eighteenth-century thought, she demonstrates how advances in science gave rise to troubling new ethical concerns, as parents joined scientists and politicians in trying to perfect mankind - with disastrous results.

General

Imprint:	University of Chicago Press
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	June 2002
First published:	June 2002
Authors:	Julia V. Douthwaite
Dimensions:	234 x 169 x 17mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	322
Edition:	2nd Ed.
ISBN-13:	978-0-226-16056-6
Categories:	Books > Humanities > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > Humanities > History > European history > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > General Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Western philosophy > General Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900 > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Anthropology > Social & cultural anthropology > General Books > History > European history > General Books > History > History of specific subjects > General Books > History > World history > 1750 to 1900 Books > History > World history > From 1900 > General Books > Philosophy > Western philosophy > General
LSN:	0-226-16056-4
Barcode:	9780226160566

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