I’ve finished transcribing Eliphalet Kimball’s 1867 Thoughts on Natural Principles, which is about a defense of anarchism, in articles that originally appeared in The Boston Investigator. The rest is frequently inspired medical and culinary crankery, which should be read carefully for the analogies presented between it and the political thought. Analogy was, after all, all the rage in the 19th century, even, apparently, if you were a radical New England doctor. I’m now working on transcribing a couple of additional essays and some responses, so I can reissue the book in expanded form this spring.
Anarchism
Eliphalet Kimball on Anarchy, 1863
Here’s another mid-19th-century anarchist, writing in the pages of the Boston Investigator (XXXIII, 15, Aug. 18, 1863, p. 114). I’ll post the second half soon, along with some additional material from Eliphalet Kimball. For the Boston Investigator Civilization—Anarchy. The word civilization from the Latin word civitas, “a city,”—or civis, a “citizen,” and signifies Government, and its effect on society. The effect of government is ignorance, falsehood, luxury, inequality, aristocracy, crime, and unhappiness. Such, then, is civilization. It is evil and progress in evil. Culture of science, enlightenment, and progress in agriculture and art, are not effects of made-Governments. They are […]
Uncategorized
Josiah Warren: Boston Investigator notice 2/7/1849
[notice], Boston Investigator, 18, 40 (February 7, 1849), 3. Mr. Warren will continue his lectures next Sunday before the People’s Meeting. Thus far, they have been well attended, and excited a good degree of interest; and whether he succeeds in convincing his hearers or not, he is listened to with much attention, and his ability and candor universally admired. We give no report of his lecture, because, conducted as they are mainly by means of question and answers, we find it very difficult to present a clear and correct statement of his theory; and beside, we expect, as we have […]
art-liberty
Calvin Blanchard in the Boston Investigator (1861–1866)
[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] A STATEMENT AND PROPOSITION. Mr. President:—If it is not out of order, I should like to make a short communication for the consideration of the meeting over which you have the honor to preside. I presume that the object of the Infidel Association is to eradicate superstition. Superstition is but the form which man’s ignorance takes. The Bible, the great bugbear of “Infidels,” is not a cause of superstition, or of ignorance; it is but one of the manifestations of it, Is there no superstition where man is so savage that […]
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Analogy was, after all, all the rage in the 19th century
Well, sure. After all, we have to establish the Analogical Relationship between NUMBER, as the General Domain of the Abstract Mathematics, and THE UNIVERSE AT LARGE, in respect to those Primary Metaphysical Discriminations which are — within this less definite Domain — equally fundamental, but — apparently — less exact than the corresponding Elemental Distributions of Number itself.