Imagining uses for things: Teaching "useful knowledge" in the early eighteenth century

Area of Science:

• History of Science
• Economic History
• Intellectual History

Background:

• Explosion of interest in "innovation-oriented knowledge" and utility in early modern knowledge economies.
• Skepticism surrounding "useful knowledge" due to its association with intentional concealment.
• Tendency to overlook efforts to teach "useful knowledge" anchored in real-world engagement and imagination.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how "useful knowledge" was taught in the early modern period.
• To highlight the role of the imagination in cultivating an epistemology of use.
• To analyze a specific handbook from c. 1700 as an example of teaching innovation.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of a c. 1700 handbook by an early political economist.
• Examination of methods used to teach readers to imagine uses for observed items.
• Focus on the cultivation of the imaginative faculty for practical application.

Main Results:

• The handbook aimed to teach readers how to identify potential uses for objects encountered during travel.
• Engagement with the real world and directed imagination were central to teaching "useful knowledge."
• Imagination served as a key faculty for developing an "epistemology of use."

Conclusions:

• Efforts to teach "useful knowledge" in the early modern period involved practical engagement and imaginative cultivation.
• The imagination was crucial for developing practical "use" and fostering innovation.
• The analyzed handbook prepared readers for participation in a transnational culture of innovation.