2012 - Keele University
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Politics, International Relations & Philosophy

Rousseau in Wootton

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Posted on 13 July 2012

wrights painting Stephen Leach In the latest edition of The British Art Journal (vol. XIII, no. 1) is an article co-written by renouned Staffordshire sculptor Simon Manby and Keele philosopher Stephen Leach, who is an Honourary Fellow of the Research Institute for Law, Politics and Justice.

The title is'Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Joseph Wright's Philosophy by Lamplight', and it concerns the fascinating and little-known story of Rousseau's stay in a cave in Wootton, not far from Keele, from 1766-7. Rousseau came to England at the invitation of David Hume, and the Leach and Manby article contends that Wright's famous painting, now in Derby Museum and Art Gallery, is infact a depiction of Rousseau in his Staffordshire cave, which was intended to comment on his estrangement from Hume during this period.

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