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John Milton, Isaac Newton, and the Making of a Modern World

Milton/Newton portraits
Friday, September 27, 2019
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Stephen Fallon, University of Notre Dame

Milton has long been thought of as the last great figure of the English Renaissance and Newton as the first great figure of the Enlightenment, with the poet looking backward and the natural philosopher looking forward. The reality is more complex and surprising. As Newton's unpublished manuscripts reveal theological and metaphysical commitments echoing Milton's, Milton comes into focus as an early adopter of key positions of the Newton circle of the late seventeenth century.

Stephen Fallon is Rev. John J. Cavanaugh, CSC, Professor of the Humanities at University of Notre Dame. A scholar of Milton and early modern literature and intellectual history, he is the author of Milton among the Philosophers, winner of the Milton Society of America's Hanford Award, and Milton's Peculiar Grace: Self-representation and Authority, winner of a Choice magazine Outstanding Academic Title award. He has also co-edited The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton for Random House/Modern Library.