Written culture and social practices: the nature of philosophical-natural knowledge produced in the Portuguese Atlantic Empire's colonial spaces (18th century)

Abstract

Derived from political, social and economic motivations, knowledge about the natural world in Portuguese colonial spaces throughout the modern period, but especially from the second half of the 18th century onwards, was produced from a series of dynamics that were intended to respond to the Imperial challenge of knowing and making known the natural potential that could be useful for the Empire's economic engine. These dynamics formed a mechanism of metropolitan and colonial institutions and official and unofficial agents who controlled and produced knowledge about colonial natural philosophy. This knowledge, within the scope of this article, will be analysed from two lines of thought: written culture as an instrument of knowledge circulation and knowledge as an instrument of social acceptance. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to understand the nature of the knowledge about natural philosophy produced in Brazil during the second half of the 18th century, which can be observed in documentary sources. It also focuses on the importance of this knowledge in the power relations established between the informal producers and the official metropolitan institutions.