Bales, Stephen
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Bales, Stephen (October 12, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: This historical study examines the Aristotelian foundations of the Library and Museum of Alexandria for the purpose of (1) understanding how the Library and Museum differed from preceding ancient Near Eastern information institutions (i.e., “protolibraries”) and (2) how Aristotle’s methodologies for producing scientific knowledge were carried out in Alexandria. While protolibraries served as safeguards for maintaining a static cultural/political “stream of tradition” and created, organized, and maintained “library” documents to this end, the Library of Alexandria was a tool for theoretical knowledge creation. The Library materialized Aristotelian pre-scientific theory, specifically dialectic and served the scholarly community of the Museum in its research. Following the Library, collections of materialized endoxa, or recorded esteemed opinions, became a necessary tool for use by scholarly communities. The Library established the post-Aristotelian paradigm under which academic libraries still operate. Although the Library of Alexandria represented a fundamental shift in the meaning and purpose of collections of recorded documents, a feminist critique of the post-Aristotelian library shows that the academic library, while used in knowledge creation, is rooted in a foundationalist philosophy that validates and maintains the status quo. Description: This is the corrected version of the doctoral dissertation (as of Oct 9, 2009): Bales, Stephen. “Aristotle’s Contribution to Scholarly Communication.” PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2008. Corrections were made to remedy minor errors as well as substantive errors and citation errors. A list of corrections appears at the end of this document. The original, uncorrected version is catalogued at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and by OCLC (#444510431). URI: http://handle.tamu.edu/1969.1/88061 Files in this item: 1
Balesdissertation2008_corrected.pdf (1.625Mb) -
Bales, Stephen (September 23, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: Aristotle’s scientific method shifted the purpose of library collections from a paradigm of cultural/political maintenance to one of theoretical knowledge creation. In spite of its modified role, the “post-Aristotelian library” ultimately served a conservative socio-political function as pre-Alexandrian information institutions. This study examines the intellectual basis of the academic library as a tool for control and argues that the post-Aristotelian library is a tool for entrenching hegemony. Description: This paper presents elements of research from, and corrects errors to, the unpublished dissertation: Bales, Stephen. "Aristotle's Contribution to Scholarly Communication." University of Tennessee 2008. URI: http://handle.tamu.edu/1969.1/88026 Files in this item: 1
postaristotelianlibraryandexclusion.pdf (206.3Kb) -
Bales, Stephen (May 8, 2009)[more][less]
Abstract: Errata sheet to dissertation: Aristotle's Contribution to Scholarly Communication URI: http://handle.tamu.edu/1969.1/86418 Files in this item: 1
erratasheetbales5-8-09.pdf (74.55Kb)
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