Sceptical Trends in the European Universities of the Early Modern Period
Date
14–15 August 2023
Convenor
Michael Engel (Universität Hamburg)
Abstract
While René Descartes and Michel de Montaigne, who are often associated with early modern scepticism, both worked outside of an institutional context, scepticism was a prevalent theme in European universities during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. From Iberian Jesuits to Parisian Thomists and secular professors in Italy, scholars engaged with scepticism in various ways, including discussions on certitude in sense perception and reflections on religious fideism, as well as sceptical attitudes inherent in the complex reception dynamics of the medieval intellectual heritage and the Aristotelian sciences. This workshop will delve into these issues with presentations on the sixteenth-century reception of Sextus Empiricus, sceptical trends in commentaries on the Summa Theologica and in the Commentarii conimbricenses, and theories of intelligible species as a locus of expressing sceptical tendencies. Through these individual talks and ensuing discussions, we aim to gain new and insightful perspectives on the intricate connection between the intellectual pursuits of early modern universities and the long-standing tradition of European scepticism.
Participants
- Tova Ganzel (Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan)
- Yael Sela Teichler (University of Michigan)
- Giuseppe Veltri (Universität Hamburg)
- Zev Harvey (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)
- Christoph Schulte (Universität Potsdam)
- Grit Schorch (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena)
- Tsachi Slater (Universität Hamburg)
- Ze'ev Strauss (Universität Hamburg)
- Elias Sacks (University of Colorado, Boulder)
- Michah Gottlieb (New York University)
Poster
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Programme
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