Project description
Meet a 17th century female philosopher
Philosopher, poet, scientist, fiction writer and playwright. This describes Margaret Cavendish, who lived in the 17th century. Her work is important for a variety of reasons. One of these is her theory of consciousness. Cavendish argued for a wholly material yet wholly thinking universe. However, 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. So far, the role of women in the history of philosophy has not been sufficiently recognised. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project MC-EuCon project will study Cavendish’s contributions to the history of consciousness. It will then aim to correct gender imbalances in philosophy to make it more inclusive.
Objective
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.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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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.
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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.
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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30123 Venezia
Italy
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