La utopía científica del Siglo de Oro: El Estado ideal como tópico de la prosa científica y técnica en castellano (1526-1613)

Abstract

Based on a corpus of 16 scientific treatises including various disciplines within a period of time from 1512 to 1613, the present work analyzes utopia as a rhetorical phenomenon. It shows that the authors not only make use of the image of an ideal scientific state in order to underline the excellence of their own discipline, but also in order to proclaim a new scientific worldview. Within this context, apart from a definition as a literary genre, utopia can also be regarded as a topic of scientific rhetoric. The analysis has focused on the paratexts of the treatises, with the aim of developing a general structure of scientific utopia. I consider this structure to consist of 6 repetitive motives, which will be described in detail: "el elogio de los oficios", "la educación matemática", "el ingeniero universal", "las armas y las letras", "translatio imperii et studii" and "ciencia y sabiduría divina".