Dividing Reason: Mathematics and Spirit in the World of Augustus and Sophia De Morgan

Brown University, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT SES 0114474 Joan Richards, Brown University Dividing Reason: Mathematics and Spirit in the World of Augustus and Sophia De Morgan The principal investigator is preparing a paired intellectual biography of the early Victorian couple, Augustus and Sophia De Morgan. An in-depth study that links the lives of Augustus and Sophia De Morgan will contribute to our understanding of the historical roots of modern secular society. Augustus taught mathematics at the secular University College in London; all of his prolific writings on mathematics and logic were motivated by his desire to establish a public world of reason that would transcend religious difference. The approach to truth that Sophia drew out of her experiences producing and raising their seven children was very different from those Augustus developed in his University classes. Whereas Augustus tried to capture truth through a purifying rational program, Sophia found it in empathetic listening. The contrast between the views of this husband and wife team reflects the deep structure of a secular world that mandated a strict separation between the private and public spheres; revisiting that world promises to shed light on the epistemological implications of the sharp distinctions between public and private on which many modern secular societies are built. NSF support supplements a Guggenheim Fellowship, and covers research travel in England. The investigator will examine materials in London, Oxford and Cambridge to supplement an already substantial knowledge of Augustus's work with research into Sophia. Outcomes include a scholarly monograph and presentations to the History of Science Society.