{"product_id":"breeding-a-partial-history-of-the-eighteenth-century-hardcover","title":"Breeding: A Partial History of the Eighteenth Century - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJenny Davidson\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Enlightenment commitment to reason naturally gave rise to a belief in the perfectibility of man. Influenced by John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, many eighteenth-century writers argued that the proper education and upbringing--breeding--could make any man a member of the cultural elite. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYet even in this egalitarian environment, the concept of breeding remained tied to theories of blood lineage, caste distinction, and biological difference. Turning to the works of Locke, Rousseau, Swift, Defoe, and other giants of the British Enlightenment, Jenny Davidson revives the debates that raged over the husbandry of human nature and highlights their critical impact on the development of eugenics, the emergence of fears about biological determinism, and the history of the language itself. Combining rich historical research with a keen sense of story, she links explanations for the physical resemblance between parents and children to larger arguments about culture and society and shows how the threads of this compelling conversation reveal the character of a century. A remarkable intellectual history, \u003ci\u003eBreeding\u003c\/i\u003e not only recasts the fundamental concerns of the Enlightenment but also uncovers the seeds of thought that bloomed into contemporary notions of human perfectibility.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eJenny Davidson is an associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University. She is the author of two novels, \u003ci\u003eHeredity\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Explosionist\u003c\/i\u003e, and a critical work, \u003ci\u003eHypocrisy and the Politics of Politeness: Manners and Morals from Locke to Austen\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 312\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.92 x 9.32 x 6.26 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e December 31, 2008\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52987967275315,"sku":"9780231138789","price":124.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0300\/5595\/6612\/files\/inVr2EDXNT9780231138789.webp?v=1769072532","url":"https:\/\/www.vysn.com\/en-ca\/products\/breeding-a-partial-history-of-the-eighteenth-century-hardcover","provider":"VYSN","version":"1.0","type":"link"}