- Università di Torino
Dipartimento di Filosofia e Scienze dell'Educazione
Palazzo Nuovo
Via S. Ottavio, 20
10124 Torino
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Histoire des idées, Cartésianismes Et Leurs Réceptions, Histoires De La Philosophie Et Programmes D'enseignements De La Philosophie, Early Modern Philosophy, Renaissance Philosophy, History of Cartesianism, and 29 moreEarly Modern Exegesis, Philosophical Scepticism, Giordano Bruno and philosophers of nature, Descartes, René, Libertinism, Littérature Clandestine XVIIe Et XVIIIe Siècles, 17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, 17th Century Dutch Republic, History of Philosophy, Malebranche, History of Science, Giordano Bruno, Cartesianism, Descartes, Jesuit history, History of Astronomy, Dutch Cartesianism, Pierre Bayle, History of Ideas, Early Modern Science, History of theology, René Descartes, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, Early Modern Intellectual History, 17th- and 18th-century Philosophy, René Descartes (in Philosophy/History Of Philosophy/17th Century Early Modern Philosophy), Baruch Spinoza, Jesuits in China, and Thomas Berns edit
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The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship between philosophy and theology in Descartes’ writings. Descartes' opinions evolve over time, under the pressure of factors deriving from both the historical context and the development... more
The aim of this paper is to analyze the relationship
between philosophy and theology in Descartes’ writings. Descartes' opinions evolve
over time, under the pressure of factors deriving from both the historical
context and the development of its philosophical thinking.
A careful reading of these factors allows to modify current interpretations,
which tend to read Descartes’ statements as neutral and
pacific. Refusing to make philosophy a merely propaedeutic discipline
and ancillary to theology, Descartes not only claims full independence
of natural philosophy and metaphysics from revelation
but, depending on the various contexts, he attributes to philosophy
a large field in which it prevails somehow over theology.
between philosophy and theology in Descartes’ writings. Descartes' opinions evolve
over time, under the pressure of factors deriving from both the historical
context and the development of its philosophical thinking.
A careful reading of these factors allows to modify current interpretations,
which tend to read Descartes’ statements as neutral and
pacific. Refusing to make philosophy a merely propaedeutic discipline
and ancillary to theology, Descartes not only claims full independence
of natural philosophy and metaphysics from revelation
but, depending on the various contexts, he attributes to philosophy
a large field in which it prevails somehow over theology.
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L'effervescence généralisée qui caractérise la philosophie des XV e et XVI e siècles ne se limite pas à mettre en discussion l'hylémorphisme aristotélicien ou la notion de matière première, mais comporte aussi une réflexion critique sur... more
L'effervescence généralisée qui caractérise la philosophie des XV e et XVI e siècles ne se limite pas à mettre en discussion l'hylémorphisme aristotélicien ou la notion de matière première, mais comporte aussi une réflexion critique sur la théorie péripatéticienne des éléments. Les raisons qui invitent à abandonner ou à soumettre à une profonde révision le savoir reçu sont différentes et souvent s'accumulent et se lient de manière inextricable : l'adhésion à des modèles philosophiques mis à disposition par l'essor de la philologie humaniste ; le rejet de la métaphysique et de la physique aristotéliciennes ; l'élaboration et la diffusion de nouveaux paradigmes scientifiques (la théorie copernicienne en astronomie, la chimie paracelsienne en médecine). Lorsque Giordano Bruno consacre aux éléments certaines sections de ses oeuvres italiennes ou latines il dispose donc d'un éventail assez ample de possibilités, qu'il utilisera pour élaborer une proposition originale. Il convient donc de s'arrêter sur les auteurs qu'il semble tenir à l'esprit lorsqu'il rédige ces textes, avant de proposer une interprétation de sa pensée sur cette question.
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This volume explores the relationship between physics and metaphysics in Descartes' philosophy. According to the standard account, Descartes modified the objects of metaphysics and physics and inverted the order in which these two... more
This volume explores the relationship between physics and metaphysics in Descartes' philosophy. According to the standard account, Descartes modified the objects of metaphysics and physics and inverted the order in which these two disciplines were traditionally studied. This book challenges the standard account in which Descartes prioritizes metaphysics over physics. It does so by taking into consideration the historical reception of Descartes and the ways in which Descartes himself reacted to these receptions in his own lifetime. The book stresses the diversity of these receptions by taking into account not only Cartesianisms but also anti-Cartesianisms, and by showing how they retroactively highlighted different aspects of Descartes' works and theoretical choices. The historical aspect of the volume is unique in that it not only analyzes different constructions of Descartes that emerged in the 18 th , 19 th and 20 th centuries, but also reflects on how his work was first read by philosophers across Europe. Taken together, the essays in this volume offer a fresh and up-to-date contribution to this important debate in early modern philosophy.
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17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, René Descartes, Cartesianism, Benedict de Spinoza, Baruch Spinoza, and 10 moreDutch Cartesianism, History Of Modern Philosophy, Spinoza, 17th Century Dutch Republic, Descartes, Early Modern Philosophy, Spinozism, History of Philosophy, Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes, and Lambertus van Velthuysen
In the Early-Modern Age, the libertas philosphandi related on the one hand with the claim of autonomy of philosophy and science with respect to the truths of faith, and on the other hand with the freedom to determine which philosophical... more
In the Early-Modern Age, the libertas philosphandi related on the one hand with the claim of autonomy of philosophy and science with respect to the truths of faith, and on the other hand with the freedom to determine which philosophical current to adhere to, without having to follow Aristotelian doctrines. In the Dutch universities of the Seventeenth Century, these elements were combined with others that originated in the intense debate unleashed by the spread of Cartesian theories. This paper examines the opinions of some professors of the University of Leiden and of an anonymous defender of the freedom of philosophizing, in the past identified with Henricus Eyssonius, a professor of medicine and physics at the University of Groningen.
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Il problema dell'infinità della materia nella riflessione cartesiana nederlandese La diffusione del pensiero di Descartes nei Paesi Bassi è pressoché immediata. È, anzi, forse inappropriato parlare di 'diffusione', come se si trattasse di... more
Il problema dell'infinità della materia nella riflessione cartesiana nederlandese La diffusione del pensiero di Descartes nei Paesi Bassi è pressoché immediata. È, anzi, forse inappropriato parlare di 'diffusione', come se si trattasse di un rapporto unidirezionale, che parte da un centro e si dirige verso una periferia. Con un alternarsi di fasi che spesso passano da grandi intese a grandi delusioni se non a plateali rotture, la relazione che Descartes ha con i filosofi, i teologi e gli scienziati olandesi è sempre dialogo, sebbene Descartes tenda a rappresentarla in maniera gerarchicamente strutturata. I suoi interlocutori olandesi sono tutto tranne che una tabula rasa pronta ad assorbire i suoi insegnamenti senza battere ciglio, come testimoniano appunto i dissidi prima con Isaak Beeckman, e poi con Henricus Regius: il primo viene accusato di essersi attribuito la spiegazione 'cartesiana' del suono, il secondo di non apprezzare le Meditationes e di aver cercato di appropriarsi di alcune tesi mediche di Descartes 1. Ma anche Henricus Reneri, il primo professore olandese a introdurre il Discours de la méthode nel suo insegnamento (e a collaborare intensamente con Descartes), non si può affatto considerare come un semplice megafono della filosofia cartesiana 2. Nemmeno le istituzioni culturali sono una tabula rasa: quando Descartes si stabilisce nei Paesi Bassi, le università olandesi sono già estremamente prestigiose e si sono ormai pressoché tutte orientate verso un insegnamento della filosofia basato sui testi di Aristotele e mirante a fornire gli elementi concettuali necessari agli studenti per proseguire i loro studi di teologia, medicina o legge 3. Si tratta tuttavia di un aristotelismo contaminato da un forte influsso ramista ed
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Pierre-Sylvain Régis's Cartesianism is quite singular in seventeenth-century French philosophy. Though, can we speak of a form of experimental science in Régis's work? After exploring his notions of "system" and "hypothesis," I will... more
Pierre-Sylvain Régis's Cartesianism is quite singular in seventeenth-century French philosophy. Though, can we speak of a form of experimental science in Régis's work? After exploring his notions of "system" and "hypothesis," I will define his position in relation to Claude Perrault, Jacques Rohault, and the Royal Society. I argue, first, that the contrasts which traverse French science are not so much about the use of experiments but about whether or not observational data can be traced back to hypotheses and to a coherent system. Secondly, that we can detect a significant similarity between Boyle's positions and the views expressed by Perrault and also by Régis. Lastly, that French science, even in its Cartesian version, is much more probabilistic than English experimental philosophy.
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Pierre-Sylvain Régis was considered by his contemporaries a prominent Cartesian. His Système de philosophie (1690) was certainly one of the most successful handbooks presenting the new philosophy. This article aims to place it in the... more
Pierre-Sylvain Régis was considered by his contemporaries a prominent Cartesian.
His Système de philosophie (1690) was certainly one of the most successful
handbooks presenting the new philosophy. This article aims to place it in the
Cartesian galaxy by studying the history of the text, analyzing the title and the
chapter divisions, and comparing his structure with that of similar works. The
examination of some pages dedicated to human freedom allows us to note how
Régis could balance in practice some different needs: he took sides in the Scholastic
tradition and the post-cartesian debates, and he had to face a firm opposition
from the Parisian Church.
His Système de philosophie (1690) was certainly one of the most successful
handbooks presenting the new philosophy. This article aims to place it in the
Cartesian galaxy by studying the history of the text, analyzing the title and the
chapter divisions, and comparing his structure with that of similar works. The
examination of some pages dedicated to human freedom allows us to note how
Régis could balance in practice some different needs: he took sides in the Scholastic
tradition and the post-cartesian debates, and he had to face a firm opposition
from the Parisian Church.
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Pierre-Sylvain Régis was regarded by his contemporaries as the main representative of Cartesianism in France. His opposition to the other heir to the philosophy of Descartes, Nicolas Malebranche, is well known. However, the controversy on... more
Pierre-Sylvain Régis was regarded by his
contemporaries as the main representative of Cartesianism in France. His opposition
to the other heir to the philosophy of Descartes, Nicolas Malebranche, is well known.
However, the controversy on the theory that pleasure makes us happy in the present
co-exists with Régis’ use of the Malebranchian doctrine of natural inclinations. Neither
does his rejection of the Oratorian’s hedonism follow in any way from a deeper spiritualism,
but from the complex reuse of issues deriving from Malebranche, Nicole and
Descartes at the same time.
contemporaries as the main representative of Cartesianism in France. His opposition
to the other heir to the philosophy of Descartes, Nicolas Malebranche, is well known.
However, the controversy on the theory that pleasure makes us happy in the present
co-exists with Régis’ use of the Malebranchian doctrine of natural inclinations. Neither
does his rejection of the Oratorian’s hedonism follow in any way from a deeper spiritualism,
but from the complex reuse of issues deriving from Malebranche, Nicole and
Descartes at the same time.
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Les rapports entre Malebranche et Régis semblent de premier abord de type polémique. Le Système de philosophie critique explicitement en trois endroits différents les doctrines de l'Auteur de la Recherche de la vérité ; trois ans plus... more
Les rapports entre Malebranche et Régis semblent de premier abord de type polémique. Le Système de philosophie critique explicitement en trois endroits différents les doctrines de l'Auteur de la Recherche de la vérité ; trois ans plus tard, la réponse de Malebranche donne le branle à une controverse qui, sans avoir l'envergeure de celle que l'oratorien mène avec Arnauld, passe rapidement d'un débat vif, mais portant la plupart du temps sur des questions philosophiques, aux accusations personnelles, de plus en plus blessantes. Et pourtant, une lecture du Système de philosophie nous permet de déceler une utilisation positive des doctrines malebranchiennes, sous des traits polémiques qui sont bien plus fréquents que les trois mentions explicites de l'oratorien. Notre étude comportera trois volets. Le premier présentera la gnoséologie de Régis et ses fondements métaphysiques ; le deuxième examinera les critiques que Régis adresse à la gnoséologie de Malebranche et le débat concernant la vision en Dieu qui en suivra ; le troisième, enfin, montrera que la connaissance que l'âme a d'elle-même, telle qu'elle est décrite dans le Système, peut, malgré tout, être mise en rapport avec la connaissance de l'âme par conscience chez Malebranche.
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Le rapport entre l’Infini créé et Malebranche est aussi étroit que complexe. Ce traité a en effet circulé et a été imprimé sous le nom de l’Oratorien, supercherie manifeste pour les plus fins connaisseurs de la pensée de Malebranche, mais... more
Le rapport entre l’Infini créé et Malebranche est aussi étroit que complexe. Ce traité a en effet circulé et a été imprimé sous le nom de l’Oratorien, supercherie manifeste pour les plus fins connaisseurs de la pensée de Malebranche, mais qui, pourtant, a paru très convaincante à d’autres contemporains. Cette relation est toutefois complexe, car il ne s’agit nullement d’une simple reprise des thèses de l’Oratorien, mais d’une appropriation de certaines théories, utilisées dans un contexte qui en bouleverse radicalement le sens. Notre but est d’explorer quatre thématiques : le nécessitarisme, la théorie de la pluralité des mondes, la thèse de l’infinité et de l’éternité de l’univers, la noétique 1.
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Examining the period from the 1920s to the 1970s, one of the key features of the Rivista di filosofia is a lasting interest in the Renaissance and Vico, while the focus on seventeenth-century metaphysics is significantly more time-bound... more
Examining the period from the 1920s to the 1970s, one of the key features of the Rivista di filosofia is a lasting interest in the Renaissance and Vico, while the focus on seventeenth-century metaphysics is significantly more time-bound and linked to the activity of some prominent figures in the journal such as Piero Martinetti, Eugenio Colorni, and Gioele Solari. The rise of the Neo-Enlightenment caused a radical change in the editorial choices, and turned the journal's focus toward the empiricist tradition and the debate on historiographical methodologies.
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Montaigne is usually inscribed in the crisis of exemplarity that characterizes the end of the Middle Ages. Through the different editions of the Essais, this article follows how he constructs his own notion of virtue and connects it to a... more
Montaigne is usually inscribed in the crisis of exemplarity that characterizes the end of the Middle Ages. Through the different editions of the Essais, this article follows how he constructs his own notion of virtue and connects it to a relentless reinterpretation of the figure of Socrates. The results of this investigation show that this example is not normative because it involves a rigid application of an ideal, but because it is a model of a search for virtue that is capable of constructing a mutably ordered self.
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L'Italie a une ancienne tradition d'études sur le libertinage et la libre pensée, qui sont considérés comme des composantes importantes de la modernité. La recherche italienne recourt donc à une définition plurielle de philosophie,... more
L'Italie a une ancienne tradition d'études sur le libertinage et la libre pensée, qui sont considérés comme des composantes importantes de la modernité. La recherche italienne recourt donc à une définition plurielle de philosophie, accordant une place à tout ce qui, aux XVII e et XVIII e siècles, ne correspond pas à une image strictement cartésienne de cette discipline. Elle explore la contamination entre différentes traditions philosophiques et s'intéresse à l'essor des études historiques, de la critique textuelle, de l'analyse comparée des religions. Sans nier l'existence de tournants et de moments de rupture dans l'histoire de la philosophie, les études italiennes soulignent la présence de rapports entre la Renaissance, le libertinage, la libre pensée et les Lumières : des sources communes, une technique d'écriture codée, une polémique antireligieuse qui s'apparente souvent à l'athéisme, l'utilisation de méthodes historiques et herméneutiques visant à passer au crible tout récit et toute croyance. Italy has an ancient tradition of studying libertinism and free thought, which are considered important components of modernity. Italian research, therefore, uses a plural definition of philosophy, capable of giving way to everything that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries does not correspond to a strictly Cartesian image of this discipline. She explores the contamination between different philosophical traditions and is interested in the rise of historical studies, textual criticism and comparative analysis of religions. Without denying the existence of turning points and moments of rupture in the history of philosophy, Italian studies emphasize the presence of relations between the Renaissance, libertinage, free thought and the Enlightenment: common sources, a technique of coded writing, an antireligious polemic that is often akin to atheism, the use of historical and hermeneutic methods to sift through any story and belief. Signée par Lorenzo Bianchi, Nicole Gengoux et Gianni Paganini, la Préface du volume Philosophie et libre pensée illustre de manière incisive une évidence (la collaboration scientifique entre la France et l'Italie dans ce domaine de recherche est profonde et mobilise autour d'elle les spécialistes d'autres nationalités) et deux résultats historiographiques. Le premier concerne la dignité philosophique des libres penseurs et libertins : leur pensée n'est pas systématique, utilise des formes expressives différentes issues à la fois de la Scolastique et des 'grands' philosophes du XVII e siècle, et traite de sujets qui sont absents ou marginaux dans la philosophie 'officielle'. Mais elle existe et a contribué au débat culturel européen de l'époque 1. Le deuxième est que, comme nous le verrons plus bas en parlant de l'interprétation que Paganini donne du scepticisme de La Mothe Le Vayer, ou des analyses de la pensée de Naudé offertes par Bianchi et Anna Lisa Schino, l'historiographie italienne met en lumière les caractéristiques qui vont dans la direction de l'irréligion voire de l'athéisme de ces personnages. Ce sont deux éléments que nous retrouvons dans les pages de Bayle philosophe de Gianluca Mori et qui sont loin de faire l'unanimité parmi les spécialistes appartenant à d'autres traditions historiographiques 2 .
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La critique spinozienne des miracles est, avec le nécessitarisme et le rejet de l'autorité mosaïque du Pentateuque, une des théories qui ont le plus choqué les contemporains de Spinoza. Nous en avons une preuve dans la réaction de Henry... more
La critique spinozienne des miracles est, avec le nécessitarisme et le rejet de l'autorité mosaïque du Pentateuque, une des théories qui ont le plus choqué les contemporains de Spinoza. Nous en avons une preuve dans la réaction de Henry Oldenburg qui, en 1675, demande à son correspondant de s'expliquer davantage sur ce sujet et lui signale très clairement que mettre en doute les miracles revient à saper la révélation qui leur doit sa certitude 1. Le chapitre VI du TTP soulève plusieurs problèmes. Notre but est double : nous voudrions d'une part essayer de mettre en rapport les opinions de Spinoza et celles de certains auteurs qu'il connaissait ou qu'il pouvait connaître ; d'autre part, en généralisant des résultats de l'interprétation avancée par Steven Nadler, nous nous proposons de répondre à certaines lectures de ce chapitre qui l'opposent à d'autres sections du TTP. Nous commencerons par situer le chapitre sur les miracles dans l'économie de l'ensemble du texte. Comme le titre de l'ouvrage l'indique, le TTP est composé de deux parties, l'une consacrée à un examen des Écritures et de la religion, l'autre explorant les fondements de l'État. Il est possible de tracer une autre division : la première section, consacrée à la théologie, se compose de six chapitres qui traitent de notions clé de la religion et de la théologie (la prophétie, les prophètes, l'élection des juifs, la loi divine, les rites, les miracles). Les neuf chapitres suivants détaillent les règles de l'herméneutique
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in primis, ha già da tempo rilevato che l'attenzione di Bayle per il Rinascimento italiano è seletti-va. Esigua è la presenza nel Dictionnaire di autori appartenenti al platoni-smo; altrettanto scarsi sono i riferimenti ai grandi autori... more
in primis, ha già da tempo rilevato che l'attenzione di Bayle per il Rinascimento italiano è seletti-va. Esigua è la presenza nel Dictionnaire di autori appartenenti al platoni-smo; altrettanto scarsi sono i riferimenti ai grandi autori del naturalismo italiano, con l'eccezione di Giordano Bruno e di Girolamo Cardano. 1 Si tratta di una scelta in parte determinata dall'eredità intellettuale che segna non poche pagine del Dictionnaire: Bayle si appropria di temi e metodolo-gie propri di quelli che René Pintard ha battezzato come libertini eruditi, come Gabriel Naudé e La Mothe Le Vayer. Il primo, in particolare, aveva manifestato una netta propensione a traghettare nel Seicento soprattutto autori appartenenti all'aristotelismo padovano. 2 Eppure, proprio in Nau-dé Bayle poteva trovare un certo interesse per Campanella, e quindi per Telesio, di cui invece rimane scarsa traccia nel Dictionnaire. Il criterio se-guito da Bayle deve quindi derivare anche da motivi inerenti alle dinami-che del suo pensiero. Analizzeremo le voci dedicate a Cesalpino (non in quanto padovano, ma per affinità tematica e perché fornisce elementi per periodizzare il pen-siero di Bayle), Cremonini, Nifo, Pomponazzi e Zabarella, mettendo in-nanzitutto in luce elementi che possano farne degli esempi di applicazione del metodo storiografico e della struttura argomentativa adottati da Bayle, per poi passare a un esame del loro contenuto più strettamente filosofico, rendendo quindi ragione dell'interesse di Bayle per questi autori e al tem
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17th Century & Early Modern Philosophy, Renaissance Studies, Renaissance Philosophy, René Descartes, Benedict de Spinoza, and 12 moreThomas Hobbes, Locke, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, Spinoza, Blaise Pascal, Descartes, Early Modern Philosophy, Biblical Exegesis, Pierre Bayle, Biblical Hermeneutics, and Early Modern Philosophy (Descartes
The dominant historiography presents the philosophy of the Seventeenth Century as a giant battle opposing two clans: one the one hand, the "Cartesian" and "rationalist" metaphysicians, one the other, those who see metaphysics as an... more
The dominant historiography presents the philosophy of the Seventeenth Century as a giant battle opposing two clans: one the one hand, the "Cartesian" and "rationalist" metaphysicians, one the other, those who see metaphysics as an extension of physics and defend an empiricist or materialist conception of the human mind. The obsoleteness of the oppositions, largely inherited from Descartes himself, are at the heart of the research agenda in the history of modern philosophy. For there are philosophers who are at the same time anti-Cartesian and anti-Aristotelian (Gassendi and Hobbes); empiricist Cartesians (Regius, Desgabets, Regis); anti-Cartesians who are Platonists (More, Cudworth); or, again, anti-Cartesians opening up to the historical and social dimensions (Vico). And then there are clandestine writers who situate themselves at the margins of the great philosophical systems, rejecting the spirit of systems itself (Fontenelle); and also women philosophers who take a polemical stance in relation to the dominant patriarchialism. Focusing on these alternative philosophies, this workshop questions the customary way of understanding the roots of our modernity.