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Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) in the history of European ideas of consciousness

Descripción del proyecto

Una filósofa del siglo XVII

Filósofa, poeta, científica, escritora de ficción y dramaturga del siglo XVII: presentamos a Margaret Cavendish. Su trabajo es importante por varios motivos. Uno de ellos es su teoría de la conciencia. Cavendish defendía un universo totalmente material, pero totalmente pensante. Sin embargo, dado que en el vocabulario filosófico de su época aún no existía ninguna palabra específica para designar la «conciencia», extrapolar sus opiniones sobre el tema ha sido problemático. Hasta ahora, el papel de las mujeres en la historia de la filosofía no se ha reconocido lo suficiente. El equipo del proyecto MC-EuCon, financiado por las Acciones Marie Skłodowska-Curie, estudiará las contribuciones de Cavendish a la historia de la conciencia. A continuación, tratará de corregir los desequilibrios de género en la filosofía para hacerla más inclusiva.

Objetivo

The MSCA-PF MC-EuCon project investigates Margaret Cavendish’s philosophy (1623-73), in order to provide the first detailed interpretation of her theory of consciousness. Questions about consciousness, its origin and presence in nature, which dominate present-day philosophy of mind, arose during the 17th century. Against Descartes’s mind-body dualism and his attribution of mental life to humans alone, Cavendish argued for a wholly material, yet wholly thinking universe. By providing one of the earliest and most original responses to Descartes’s theories, Cavendish plays a seminal role in the European history of the concept of consciousness, offering a rich opportunity for developing our understanding of how problems about consciousness evolved and were addressed in Europe in the early modern period. However, her original contribution has been so far neglected. Since no specific word for ‘consciousness’ was yet available in the philosophical vocabulary of her day, extrapolating her views on the topic has been problematic. To overcome this difficulty, the MC-EuCon project applies digital humanities tools to texts of Cavendish and her interlocutors, in order to reconstruct her vocabulary related to consciousness and clarify her theory. It then assesses the significance of her ideas for past and present-day debates in philosophy of mind. To date, the role of women in the history of philosophy has not been sufficiently recognized. The elimination or marginalization of women in the history of philosophy has presented students, researchers and the general public with a historically inaccurate view; this has helped existing gender inequalities in philosophy to persist. Studying and communicating Cavendish’s contributions to the history of consciousness—one of the most significant concepts in present-day philosophy and psychology—is an important step towards changing public perceptions and correcting gender imbalances in philosophy, thus making the discipline more inclusive.

Ámbito científico (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS clasifica los proyectos con EuroSciVoc, una taxonomía plurilingüe de ámbitos científicos, mediante un proceso semiautomático basado en técnicas de procesamiento del lenguaje natural.

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Coordinador

UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA
Aportación neta de la UEn
€ 188 590,08
Dirección
DORSODURO 3246
30123 Venezia
Italia

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Región
Nord-Est Veneto Venezia
Tipo de actividad
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Enlaces
Coste total
Sin datos