2021: Facets of Early Modern Scepticism

Date and Place
18–23 July 2021, online

Topic and Purpose
The early modern period is well known as a period when engagement with scepticism (or the question of the extent to which we can know anything) was widespread. While, of course, not all early modern thinkers were sympathetic to sceptical thought (some, such as Spinoza, considered it to be incomprehensible), scepticism was a persistent and pertinent issue of the period between 1500 and 1700. But whence this fascination with scepticism? And what shape did it take?
The Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies—Jewish Scepticism’s third summer school pursued these questions from a novel interdisciplinary perspective with a special focus on Jewish thought and culture. More specifically, the summer school brought together philosophers, experts in religious and Jewish studies, art historians, and literary scholars in order to investigate the multifaceted phenomenon of early modern scepticism from three perspectives:

1. Scepticism and Religion: Which impact did scepticism have on early modern theology and on practices and conceptions of religion both within and without Judaism?

2. Scepticism and Philosophy: What made scepticism so popular in the early modern period and what (novel?) forms of (anti-)scepticism were developed in this period?

3. Scepticism and Fine Art: How did sceptical doubts shape early modern fine art: theatre, literature, and painting? And how did fine art contribute to the sceptical imagery of these times?

The aim of the summer school was to reveal the multidimensional meaning of early modern scepticism. Both MA and PhD students as well as early postdocs were invited to appreciate the multifaceted structure of early modern scepticism and to share their unique perspective on it. To this end, participants were asked to present their object of investigation in light of the interdisciplinary insights they hoped to have gained by the end of the summer school.

Lecturer Team
The course leaders were Stephan Schmid and Giuseppe Veltri, and they were supported by an international team of experts in philosophy, religious and Jewish studies, art history, and literature: Alessandro Guetta, Grit Schorch, Jeremy Fogel, Guido Bartolucci, Michael Della Rocca, Sonja Schierbaum, Jennifer Marušić, Sandra Richter, and Margit Kern.

Participants
It was intended for students and scholars from various backgrounds (ranging from history of philosophy to Jewish studies, religious studies, theatre and literary studies, etc.). Ten participants from Argentina, Germany, Israel, Italy, Pakistan, Poland, and the USA attended the summer school.