The intended purpose of this Topics Seminar is for the participating student (1) to become familiar with positions taken in the current debates over the specific topic area of the course; (2) to appreciate the arguments for and against the positions; and (3) to develop an independent judgment about the most promising approach in this area. Specifically the course aims to provide:
* a general overview over key thinkers and themes from the early modern period (16th – 18th centuries);
* an advanced understanding of the topic as developed and discussed by philosophers from this period; and
* a contextualization of the philosophical discussions of this period.
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This “Topics Seminar” explores in depth various texts related to a topic in the philosophy of the early modern period that includes such philosophers as Descartes, Leibniz, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, and Hume as well as their underappreciated contemporaries.
The specific topic and instructor(s) for the coming year will be announced in the spring.
Topic for 2020-2021:
Secularization sounds straightforward: it refers to a demise in the power of revelation and of religious practices more generally. Yet, the history of the term is contentious and multilayered. In recent scholarship, it has been useful for both defenders of religious tradition – who treat modernity as a peculiar ‘secularization’ and retainment of Christian ideals (e.g. Löwith, 1949; Taylor, 2007) – and for religious critics who treat a release from dogma and a turn to self-legislation as essential for progress and emancipation. While the term ‘secularization’ is a relatively recent one – a notion coined in mid-nineteenth century England – the discussions that surround it are not. Contemporary ‘secularization debates’ have a rich and diverse historical heritage, one that finds its expression particularly in the early modern period where arguments over the relation between religion and philosophy, ‘revelation’ and its counterpart ‘reason’, stood at the forefront of intellectual and societal debate.
The early modern period (roughly the period from 1500 to 1700) is often referred to as the most talked-about era in the history of science. The age of the ‘Scientific Revolution’ heralded a new way of thinking about the natural world, about new foundations that continue to inform modern scientific knowledge and methods (Principe, 2011). The early modern period, however, was an era of both continuity and change.
This course examines the so-called ‘theological-political problem’ in early modern philosophy: the confrontation between reason and revelation and the various epistemological, ethical and political ramifications it entails. It examines how quintessential ‘modern’ innovatores like Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Spinoza, Pascal, Locke, Leibniz, Hume, and Voltaire – as well as some of their lesser known contemporaries (e.g. Boyle, Arnauld, Wollstonecraft, and the Dutchmen Balling, Van Velthuysen, and Mandeville) all struggled with the question of how to vindicate God and Religion within the framework of a ‘new’ natural world.
Central topics include: the role of ‘God’ within mechanical philosophy; the debated nature of Scripture, prophecy, and prophets; the relation between theology and philosophy; the societal (ab)uses of religion; the question of toleration within pluralist societies; religion and the nature of political power.
Note: an important assumption of this course is that despite enormous technological and sociological changes, there are enduring ‘theologico-political’ problems; this assumption means that we will read and discuss historical texts from the early modern period not just to understand where we are coming from, but also as a guide to reflection on recurrent philosophical challenges. In order to facilitate this process, we will also read some important, nonetheless controversial, contemporary thinkers such as Leo Strauss and Carl Schmitt who both wrote extensively on the subject.
This course is for students in the RMA Philosophy programme; students from other M.A. programmes (such as History & Philosophy of Science or Applied Ethics), should check with the course coordinator or the RMA Philosophy coordinator (m.bonazzi@uu.nl), before enrolling, to ensure that they have the requisite philosophical background.
The entrance requirements for Exchange Students will be checked by International Office and the Programme coördinator. Therefore, you do not have to contact the Programme coördinator yourself.
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Deze cursus wordt bi-modaal aangeboden (een deel van het onderwijs is online en een deel op de universiteit).
Kijk voor meer informatie over de cursus vanaf augustus regelmatig op Blackboard.
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