The Pursuit Of Certainty

An exploration of the effect of anthropology's inherited tradition of tolerance and cross-cultural understanding has on the new pursuits of truth.

This interdisciplinary collection explores how the early modern pursuit of knowledge in very different spheres – from Inquisitional investigations to biblical polemics to popular healing – was conditioned by a shared desire for certainty, and how epistemological crises produced by the religious upheavals of early modern Europe were also linked to the development of new scientific methods. Questions of representation became newly fraught as the production of knowledge increasingly challenged established orthodoxies. The volume focuses on the social and institutional dimensions of inquiry in light of political and cultural challenges, while also foregrounding the Hispanic world, which has often been left out of histories of scepticism and modernity. Featuring essays by historians and literary scholars from Europe and the United States, The Quest for Certainty in Early Modern Europe reconstructs the complexity of early modern epistemological debates across the disciplines, in a variety of cultural, social, and intellectual locales.

“The 1990s was a decade of reckoning that compressed our spirits as well as our bank accounts. We hunkered down through a prolonged winter of decline before finally, at decade’s end, emerging to breathe in the first stirrings of national recovery. The long journey tested our confidence in the country, its governments, our employers and even ourselves.... Happily, we discovered a new inner strength, and the wisdom to take advantage of global trends and to build a new social and cultural Canada in the post-Trudeau era.” – from Searching for Certainty Darrell Bricker, president of the leading market research firm in Canada, and Ed Greenspon, political columnist for The Globe and Mail, join forces to offer a comprehensive report on the new economic, social and cultural Canada - the dramatic changes wrought by globalization and technologicial innovation over the last two decades as well as the more subtle shifts in how we approach work, health care and education. Using the most up-to-date and complete data available, they analyze economic trends, from global trade to the workplace, and trace the ways in which Canadian society and culture have been transformed. They reveal that Canada has emerged from the late twentieth century a stronger and more dynamic society. Far from becoming more American, the new mindset is steeped in Canadian traditions of tolerance and community. In the aftermath of the 1990s, Canada is a society searching more than ever before for certainy, not promises - for quality of life, not quantity of goods. One example: a decade ago, Canadians had never heard of the Internet, and the public equated new technology with job loss. By the fall of 2000, 70 per cent of adults - more than 15 million individuals - were connected to the Internet at home or work or school. By the end of 2001, four out of five Canadians will probably enjoy access. How is the Internet changing our health care, our political unity, how we shop, even our power in relation to governments and corporations? Searching for Certainty is a smart and entertaining, fact-filled account of how the changes over the last two decades affect us now and will determine how we feel and what we want tomorrow. Combining demographic statistics with a journalist's keen eye for real-life stories, Bricker and Greenspon offer valuable insights for business and public policy, and practical tips on how to survive and prosper in the new economy.

Why is the American system of death investigation so inconsistent and inadequate? In this unique political and cultural history, Jeffrey Jentzen draws on archives, interviews, and his own career as a medical examiner to look at the way that a long-standing professional and political rivalry controls public medical knowledge and public health.