ON COSMOGRAPHY IN IDEAL STATE . 'CITY OF THE SUN' OF THOMAS CAMPANELLA (O kosmografii w panstwie idealnym na przykladzie Miasta Slonca Tomasza Campanelli)

• Authors: Skrycki Radoslaw
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The modern representatives of Utopia paid a great attention to put their ideal constructions within the limits of 'reality'. In order to make their visions authentic, among others, they used to present detailed geographical descriptions. And the later their works were written, the more attention was paid by the authors to localization, natural conditions and relations between social policy and geography of the described country. Thanks to such presentation, the reader was convinced that read about the place, which existed in reality. Of course, in such circumstances the author was obliged to know much more about contemporary geographical writings. Undoubtedly, Thomas Campanella was a writer and philosopher, who must have known cosmographic works of the epoch. Additionally, his numerous journeys made it possible for him to verify his earlier theoretical reflections. 'City of the Sun' is a typical book that is to reveal the status of geography in contemporaneous Utopia. One should admit that the above-mentioned domain was highly appreciated by Campanella, who wrote about it very often. Moreover, geography was so much approved by him that he put Earth globe as its attribute on the altar in central place of the city. One can also say that the influence of the Great Discoveries' epoch and colonial expansion of many European countries made people pay peculiar attention to geography. What interesting, in Campanella's work besides geography, which plays a significant role, also other domains are mentioned. In a way, the realms are essential for constructing geographical descriptions (astrology = astronomy, geology, natural sciences and others) in gremio intensify the essence of description.

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Instytut Historii Nauki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
• Journal: Kwartalnik Historii Nauki i Techniki
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 54
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 21-36
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Skrycki Radoslaw

• Radoslaw Skrycki, Uniwersytet Szczecinski, Instytut Historii i Stosunków Miedzynarodowych, ul. Wojska Polskiego 65, 70-478 Szczecin, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

09PLAAAA06843