Masterclass ‘History of Philosophy and its Method(s)’

Masterclass ‘History of Philosophy and its Method(s)’

16-18 March 2020, Research Institute of the University of Bucharest

Venue: ICUB, 1 Dimitrie Brandza Str., Bucharest

How do philosophers approach the history of their discipline? While it is obvious that some knowledge of the historical development of philosophy is essential in order to engage in philosophy today, scholars do not agree on the relationship between philosophy and its history. Roughly, while “appropriationists” think that the history of philosophy should be regarded as a repository of materials for the current debate, “contextualists” are more inclined to emphasize the importance of the original message conveyed by past philosophers, paying close attention to the discourses in which they were embedded. 

This masterclass examines the latter approach, which has enjoyed a remarkable revival in the past decade. Through a number of focused readings, we will critically examine some canonical texts of twentieth-century historiography (Cassirer, Lovejoy, Koselleck, Skinner, Pocock) in relation to the challenges of the most recent debate (e.g. Catana, Laerke, Hutton, Goldenbaum). We will discuss the methodological issues internal to the field and analyze the relationship between the history of philosophy and other cognate disciplines, e.g. intellectual history, the history of ideas and conceptual history.

The masterclass is intended for graduate students and young researchers, and is open to all researchers. The three-day event will consist in lectures and reading groups. Readings will be made available to registered participants. Participants are required to do the readings in advance.

Organized by: Tinca Prunea-Bretonnet, Alessandro Nannini and Oana Matei

Confirmed speakers so far include:

Sorana Corneanu (Bucharest)

Alessandro Nannini (Bucharest)

Tinca Prunea-Bretonnet (Bucharest)

Matthias Roick (Göttingen)

Registration: Please send an email by 1 March 2020 with a brief statement of your background and interest in the masterclass (no more than 400 words) to Oana Matei: [email protected]

Attendance is free, but we are unable to cover travel or accommodation expenses.