Beattie, James (1735-1803)

The Castle of Scepticism

w. 1767, dated 1773 [unpublished in period]

"To show that all inferences of reason are false or uncertain, and that the understanding acting alone does entirely subvert itself, and prove by argument that by argument nothing can be proved, he has contrived a puppet of mushrooms, cork, cobwebs, gossamer, and other fungous and flimsy materials, to which he gives the name of Reason."

[...] This Castle," continued he, "has, in every age since its foundation, produce several of these admirable inventions; which however are all exceeded by the ingenuity and industry of our present Governour. He has lately invented and executed one of the boldest and happiest designs that ever entered into a metaphysical head; a design which establishes universal Scepticism at once, and beyond which our most sanguine adherents have nothing to expect or desire. The hint was taken from the London News Papers. You will perhaps remember an advertisement that appeared in opposition to the scheme of the Bottle Conjurer of ridiculous memory. It was given out, that a certain harlequin was arrive in town who would exhibit a much more extraordinary performance than that of a man jumping into a quart bottle; for that he would open his mouth wide, and jump down his own throat. Something very similar to this our Governour has accomplished. To show that all inferences of reason are false or uncertain, and that the understanding acting alone does entirely subvert itself, and prove by argument that by argument nothing can be proved, he has contrived a puppet of mushrooms, cork, cobwebs, gossamer, and other fungous and flimsy materials, to which he gives the name of Reason. He performs with it several dextrous feats to the surprise of every spectator; and at last, by a wonderful apparatus in the machinery, he makes it to open its mouth, and with a sudden jerk throw its whole body, feet, head, trunk, legs, and arms, down its throat, where it totally disappears. He has published a full account of the whole affair in a very elaborate Treatise in three volumes, which has given us all the most perfect satisfaction. The method indeed by which this operation is performed is too subtle and intricate to be understood; and he never performs it except in the dark, or behind a screen; but as he himself has assured us that it is plain to a demonstration, every body is convinced. [...]
(pp. 130-132)

Uncategorized::Puppet Uncategorized::Mushrooms Uncategorized::Cork Uncategorized::Web::Cobwebs Uncategorized::Gossamer

Reading Sarah Tindal Kareem's "Flimsy Materials: Or, What the Eighteenth Century Can Teach us About Twenty-First Century Worlding" (in draft, forthcoming).

Not published in the eighteenth century, but circulated in 1773.

Text from Ernest Campbell Mossner, "Beattie's 'The Castle of Scepticism': An Unpublished Allegory Against Hume, Voltaire, and Hobbes" Studies in English 27:1 (June 1948): 108-145. <Link to JSTOR>

06/06/2014