Project description
A closer look at the texts and ideas of René Descartes
Heralded as the first modern philosopher, René Descartes (1596–1650) was an important scientific thinker and an original metaphysician. It is well known that he played a leading role in shaping Europe’s intellectual revolution in the 17th century. What is not known is why his ideas were so important because it’s not clear how closely his texts were read. The EU-funded READESCARTES project will explore uncatalogued handwritten sources, their textual reconstruction and mapping, and the analysis of their use and dissemination. It will build on approaches of reading and note taking and the use of digital mapping tools for large amounts of texts.
Objective
The objective of this project is to provide the first in-depth study of the handwritten commentaries on the treatises of René Descartes. This study is important because such sources were crucial in shaping the intellectual revolution occurring in Europe during the 17th century, in which Descartes played a foremost role. However, we still do not have a complete grasp of why his ideas were so important to this revolution, because we do not know how his texts were closely read. The key to understand this process of reading and knowledge-building is the analysis of this kind of sources, up to now neglected by historians. Andrea Strazzoni has preliminarily ascertained their crucial role for the reception of Cartesianism while working on two monographs in the history of philosophy and science, making him the ideal researcher for this project. He has assessed the existence of 109 not retrieved items, plus 38 already retrieved ones. These commentaries constitute a body of literature whose complete analysis will be made possible by this project, focused on those authored by the first teachers of Cartesian ideas: Johannes de Raey and Johannes Clauberg. This study is now timely, because it benefits from new directions of investigation: (a) the study of reading and note-taking practices, (b) a transnational approach to the history of thought, (c) the application of digital mapping tools to large amounts of texts. Such approaches are now at the centre of new researches, led at Venice Ca’ Foscari by the applicant’s supervisor, Marco Sgarbi, and by Dirk van Miert at Utrecht, destination of a secondment. The project integrates these approaches in order to pursue its objective along three lines of investigation: (1) the search for uncatalogued handwritten sources, (2) their textual reconstruction and mapping, (3) the analysis of their use and dissemination. This project will enable Strazzoni to become a leading scholar in early modern philosophy, and to apply for a tenured position.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences educational sciences didactics
- humanities history and archaeology history
- social sciences political sciences political transitions revolutions
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion philosophy history of philosophy modern philosophy
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
30123 VENEZIA
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.