Institutions and Metaphysics of Cosmology in the Epistemic Networks of Seventeenth-Century Europe

Project Information

EarlyModernCosmology

Grant agreement ID: 725883

DOI

10.3030/725883

Project closed

EC signature date 5 July 2017

Start date 1 November 2017

End date 30 April 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 999 976,00

EU contribution

€ 1 999 976,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 4 - EarlyModernCosmology (Institutions and Metaphysics of Cosmology in the Epistemic Networks of Seventeenth-Century Europe)

Reporting period: 2022-05-01 to 2023-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

EarlyModernCosmology deals with the cultural-political factors that shaped early modern cosmology at the level of institutions and metaphysical foundations. It focuses on institutions and philosophical conceptions in their connection with confessional concerns, particularly in university and scholarly networks. It addresses the question of the cultural-political struggles in matters of science in times of acute cultural clashes in order to comprehend the political epistemology that is an essential component of science since early modernity.

The collaborative research work connects various disciplines: the history of science and philosophy, cultural history, historical epistemology, and the sociology of knowledge. The approach is two-pronged, both historical and theoretical. The group has investigated historical cases and at once reflected on the philosophical implications in the field of historical epistemology.

With the aim to comprehend the ideological divide of seventeenth-century cosmologies in Protestant, Catholic as well as cross-confessional and cosmopolitan settings of the time our historical enquires (H1-3/H=History) explore several intertwined thematic areas:
H1. The conceptual boundaries of early modern cosmology through the reconstruction of theories, ideas and the metaphysics underlying discourses on the heavens and the order of nature in early modernity.
H2. The socio-cultural contexts (institutional, political, religious) of cosmology, confession, and cultural policies through cases of modern construction and deconstruction of authority in scientific discourses and their establishment and circulation within institutions of knowledge. This comprises a socio-historical assessment of the networks and crossroads of intellectual exchange that were relevant for early-modern cosmological debates.
H3. An inquiry into scientific practices of relevance for cosmology and fields of applied science (such as practical problems of navigation and cartography).

The methodological reflection (E1-2/E=Epistemology) especially relates to:
E1. Problems of epistemology as they emerge from the study of the sociology and historiography of early-modern science;
E2. This in turn fosters an innovative philosophical perspective, which we labelled political epistemology because it highlights the role of shared values and collective praxis in the construction of the scientific discourses of the past.

For more details, see: unive.it/earlymoderncosmology.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Recruitment towards the group formation has been intense in the early phase, however new positions have been opened and occupied throughout, also thanks to additional financial support from the HI and the FARE "EarlyGeoPraxis" project of the Italian Ministry of University and Research (aimed to strengthen the ERC project).
The core group includes one project manager and a varying number of scholars, non-tenured professors, post-doctoral researchers, pre-doctoral students, one editorial manager, visiting scholars, and associates.
For an overview of the group, visit: https://www.unive.it/pag/35131/

Research activities have been conducted individually and collectively, through regular research exchanges (colloquia, laboratories, co-authored papers, editorial initiatives).
Group scholars attended regular meetings and conferences in Venice and disseminated the project results through conference attendance, setting up a broad network of collaborations.
Notwithstanding the pandemic, which relented the activities in person in 2020/22, a large number of online and hybrid workshops has been organized throughout. The Anthropocene Campus Venice in October 2021 has been fostered by the project, as well, as an occasion to make the relevance of science history for today's planetary debates and concerns. Beginning in late 2022, in presence meetings have been recovered. Two deepening and dissemination conferences deserve special mention: “Histories of Knowledge", in collaboration with the International Society of Intellectual History (Venice, 12-15/9/2022) and "Scientific Cosmopolitanism in the University Culture of Early Modern Padua" (Padua-Venice, 12-14/10/2022)

The project's research goals and outcomes of the DoA have been fully achieved:

• Conferences on key project's themes.
• Doctoral theses: 4 PhD theses.
• Publications on the contextual history of early-modern cosmology: including monographs, edited volumes and journal thematic issues.
• For the overarching comprehension of institutional astronomical discourses in the 17th century, we organized workshops which led to substantial outcomes, including a monograph by the PI (Defending Descartes in Brandenburg-Prussia: The University of Frankfurt an der Oder in the 17th Century, 2022) and two journal special issues (Perspectives on Science and the British Journal for the History of Science, 2022/23).
• Completion and publication of essays on the epistemic networks of early-modern knowledge institutions by the PI and other group members.
• Important publications, including in peer-review journals.
• For the realization of a digital platform of the project presenting the results and the research materials to be linked to online publications, we realized an overarching webpage (unive.it/earlymoderncosmology) and launched two new open access series, "Early Modern Knowledge Hegemonies" (Edizioni Ca' Foscari, Venice and Edition Open Access, Berlin) and "Verum Factum" (Edition Open Access framework).

For more details, see: www.unive.it/earlymoderncosmology

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The group research has helped to broaden the historical and philosophical understanding of the project topics and we partially revised our research hypotheses based on new evidence and a more nuanced understanding of the confessional and cultural politics that informed the institutional networks and metaphysical conceptions of seventeenth-century cosmology.

An integrative project on applied cosmology has received funding through the FARE program of the Italian Ministry of University and Research: "EarlyGeoPraxis" (cod. R184WNSTWH), with a focus on the geomorphology and hydrography of early-modern Venice.

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