The Appeal of Integration: The Influence of Joseph Priestly on the Development of the Visual Arts and Fiction in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries

Abstract

Joseph Priestley (1733-1804) was a leading figure in the development of English Unitarianism. His unique blend of optimism, liberalism, commitment to intellectual freedom and inquiry, his wide-ranging intellectual interests alongside an unswerving religious conviction, ensured that he became the dominant voice in rational dissent in England in the eighteenth century. His position as a student and lecturer at Warrington Academy made the propagation of his views easier within dissenting communities throughout the country during that period.