New approaches to study of early modern philosophy
Research on modern early philosophy and its teaching at the university and high school levels is traditionally dominated by a narrative based the contrast between empiricism and rationalism. Researchers in the EU-funded project 'Empiricism vs. rationalism: The rise of a historiographical narrative' (EVR) assert that this is due to the simplicity of this narrative and its suitability for pedagogical purposes. Demonstrating the flexibility of empiricism, EVR shows that the notion of empiricism could be easily employed by a broad spectrum of philosophers from idealists to Thomists. However, the oversimplification of this approach means that other valuable approaches of the 17th and 18th century are left out of the curriculum. In the EVR blog , researchers explain that professors of early modern philosophy are reacting against this elementary approach of instruction and historiographical understanding. As an alternative, they suggest that philosophers outside of the empirical and rationalist camps are brought into curriculums, as well as little-known women philosophers. In addition to its blog, the project is working towards the publication of several journal articles, a book chapter and papers. Additionally, project work has been presented at several conferences, discussed at lecture seminars for high school students, and inspired training for high school philosophy teachers. EVR researchers expect their findings will spark conversations about the historiography of early modern philosophy, and bring teaching of the subject in line with current research.
Keywords
Early modern philosophy, empiricism, rationalism, teacher training, historiography
