St. Petersburg Academy of Arts and Sciences in the Network of European Academies in the Early Modern Period The Place of "Arts" in the Structure of Scientific Knowledge

Abstract

This article analyzes the structure of scientific knowledge in the Early Modern period with reference to the place of "arts" in the Academy of Arts and Sciences, established by a nominal decree from the Senate on January 28 (February 8), 1724 in St. Petersburg, and the place of the latter in the pan-European network of academic communities. The study aims to show the relevance and innovativeness of the Russian academic project, both due to specific Russian conditions and the peculiarities of the structure of scientific knowledge of the Early Modern period. Based on 1) the common and the different between the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and the leading European academies, 2) peculiarities of the phrase "arts and sciences" in the context of Petrine times, the thesis is substantiated that the Art Chambers and craft workshops at the Academy did not just "serve" the needs of science and carry out "side" work that had nothing to do with "pure science". The arts were themselves instruments of "fact production" in and for science, inseparable from its process. At the time of the establishment of the Academy, there could be no sciences without art, just as there could be no arts without sciences. The presence of the phrase "arts and sciences" in the name of the Academy is well explained by the semantics of the word "art", which included sciences, arts, and crafts. © 2023 Aquilo. All rights reserved.