Graduation Year
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
History
Major Professor
Philip Levy, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Brian Connolly, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Davide Tanasi, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Julia F. Irwin, Ph.D.
Keywords
Human, Nature, Hybrid Epistemology, Environmental Ethic
Abstract
This study examines the hybrid epistemologies developed by early American naturalists, such as Hans Sloane, Pehr Kalm, John and William Bartram, and Benjamin Smith Barton that blended empirical observation, spiritual frameworks, and Indigenous ecological knowledge. These figures, implicitly or explicitly challenging the dominant mechanistic and reductionist models of Enlightenment science, pioneered a more holistic ecological thinking, even as they operated within colonial power structures.
Through historical and textual analysis based on letters, natural histories, and other written sources, the study reveals how these naturalists synthesized multiple ways of knowing, particularly in their encounters with New World peoples and environments. Within this framework, it examines alternative regimes of knowledge that not only objectify nature but also approach it with respect and engagement.
Ultimately, the dissertation reassesses the legacy of colonial science, positioning it not merely as a tool of domination or Enlightenment rationalism, but also as a field of ecological consciousness shaped by intercultural interaction, resistance, and pluralism. This approach demonstrates the possibility of a more nuanced and multilayered intellectual landscape for both environmental history and environmental ethics.
Scholar Commons Citation
Hismiogullari, Sahir, "Rattlesnakes and Enlightenment Science: An Unlikely Epistemology of Early American Herpetology" (2025). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/11055
