Yet, back then, Blake and others were resolute that reason and science were not the limit of existence. They clung to, argued for, a different dimension, or set of dimensions, to reality. In the terms of their day, they expressed these as religious truths (much as Giles Fraser was in his debate with Polly Toynbee in Saturday's Guardian). Science and engineering, the rise of the steam age (the dark Satanic mills) were the dominant mindset of their era. The graphic illustrates the point.
But we now know the ruling mechanical framework is deeply flawed. Since Einstein, a rethink has been forced upon us. I'm no expert, I don't understand string theory, but ever since I read Paul Davis' 'the Goldilocks Enigma' I have been convinced that the old Kuyperian maxim "all truth is God's truth" would prove true.
Now I'm retreading Ackroyd's biography of Blake and all my sympathies with that great man are suddenly snapping into focus. Of course, he was right all along. But perhaps in a very different way...
