Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EarlyModernCosmology (Institutions and Metaphysics of Cosmology in the Epistemic Networks of Seventeenth-Century Europe)

Teaser

\"This project deals with the cultural-political and ideological settings of modern science though a series of case studies on the confessional contexts of early modern cosmologies. At once, it contributes to a historically-grounded reflection on the cultural apriories of...

Summary

\"This project deals with the cultural-political and ideological settings of modern science though a series of case studies on the confessional contexts of early modern cosmologies. At once, it contributes to a historically-grounded reflection on the cultural apriories of science in the perspective of a historical-critical epistemology.

The socio-political settings of cosmology are considered with particular care because in the early-modern age of confessional divides, they shaped cosmological debates. Heated controversies—over issues such as heliocentrism, the plurality of worlds, space infinity, cometary theory, celestial matter and fluidity—were amplified by increasing political and confessional fragmentation.
Teaching institutions and learned networks formed alliances and opposed each other over their competing epistemic cultures. Reformers of scholarly curricula, such as Philip Melanchthon in Protestant Germany or Jesuit educators, had a lasting influence on cultural politics by substituting earlier traditions for new ones marked by confessional guidelines. The systematisation of astronomical knowledge within established philosophical and theological frameworks secured its endurance and transportability.
This is relevant for an assessment of the interrelation between the metaphysics underlying astronomy (its principles, concepts, and methods), and the institutional settings transmitting this discipline up to early modernity. Operating in a sort of loop, institutionalised a priori sanctioned and reinforced scholarly practices, which, in turn, demonstrated the validity of the institutional values.

This problematic interrelation was reflected upon at the end of the period by Kant in his Streit der Fakultäten (1798). The divisions underlying this institutuionalized struggle emerged in the century before, and are implicit in Kant’s own beautiful dictum:
\"\"Zwei Dinge erfüllen das Gemüt mit immer neuer und zunehmender Bewunderung und Ehrfurcht, je öfter und anhaltender sich das Nachdenken damit beschäftigt: Der bestirnte Himmel über mir und das moralische Gesetz in mir.\"\"
The star-lit sky and the moral law are considered apart from each other to avoid naturalistic fallacies and not only represent Kant’s clear-cut distinction between the realms of fact and value, necessity and freedom, but also his two-tier thinking. In Spinoza on the other hand nature and morality are fused in an universal Ethica and between these poles the innovative epistemological thinking oscillated, but not without struggles against more traditional ideas. Thus it is crucial to address the socio-political context, and especially the confessional conflicts and cultural-political agendas of philosophical-scientific discourse during early modernity.

Cosmological controversies, such as the Roman prohibition of the Copernican system (1616) and the extraordinary condemnation of Galileo (1633), accelerated the formation of competing cosmological communities. Therefore, the ERC-EarlyModernCosmology research project particularly addresses the interrelations between cosmological debates in the northern European Protestant networks of scholars and institutions, as well as the cosmological debates in Catholic institutional networks, aiming for a comparative assessment of early formations and transformations of epistemic webs.

This project will reconstruct confessional, intellectual and institutional contexts and networks, which are relevant to the history of cosmology and modern science in general. It will result in a series of studies on the astronomical culture in Protestant and Catholic academic environments, including their geo-political dimension. The reconstruction of the cosmological debates will be based on academic records (e.g. statutes, syllabi and acts), a contextual reading of astronomical works, especially scholarly publications (such as textbooks, commentaries, summae, exercitationes, quaestiones and disputationes), and university docume\"

Work performed

\"During this first period the first research activities easily started thanks to the immediate organisation of several administrative and technical activities that paved the way for the most efficient implementation of the research. In detail, the PI, together with the Project Manager duly appointed by the Host Institution, has worked towards:

i) personel recruitment: the hiring of the research group, namely 5 post-doc researchers, 3 PhD students, the Editorial Manager and the Copy Editor, as well as some collaborators as temporary guests and Visiting researchers;
ii) research activities have been conducted individually and collectively through a series of subprojects, regular research exchanges (colloquia, laboratories, co-authored papers...) and the realization of shared project goals;
iii) events: the organization of many workshop and seminars in Venice attracting interested international scholars and improving the network on the themes of the early modern cosmology discussions;
iv) dissemination of project results through conference attendance, setting up of collaborations with artists and/or professionals with the aim of feeding and transferring the ERC research to their projects;
iv) publication strategies and web communication: the launch of the ERC-EarlyModernCosmology operational and communication platform (website and Facebook).

Additional details:

i) personel

In the first financial period: the hiring of the research group, namely 5 post-doc researchers, 3 PhD students, the Editorial Manager and the Copy Editor, as well as some collaborators as temporary guests and Visiting researchers.
See: https://www.unive.it/pag/35131/

ii) research activities

At the moment, the following research projects are running in the framework of the ERC-EarlyModernCosmology and supervised by the PI:
1.1 \"\"Case Studies on Knowledge Hegemonies in the Early Modern Cosmos\"\" (Prof. Pietro D. Omodeo)
1.2 \"\"Political Epistemology of Cosmology: History and Theory\"\" (Prof. Pietro D. Omodeo)
2. “Marin Mersenne: Harmonist at the Heart of the Scientific Revolution” (Dr. Jacoba Wilhelmina Prins, post-doc researcher);
3. \"\"Sapientia Astrologica: Astrology, Magic and Natural Knowledge, ca. 1250-1800” (Dr. Darrel Rutkin, post-doc researcher);
4. “The Lion and the Leviathan: Hobbes, Sarpi and the Republic of Venice” (Dr. Gregorio Baldin, post-doc fellow);
5. “Physics, Astronomy, and Logic of Pierre Gassendi” (Dr. Rodolfo Garau, post-doc fellow);
6. “The Debate on the Shape of the Earth, 1672-1740: Geodesy, Astronomy, and Cosmology” (Dr. Marco Storni, post-doc fellow);
7. “Edition Open Access project: publication of book series ‘Knowledge Hegemonies’ and ‘Verum factum’ (Dr. Sascha Freyberg, research fellow, Editorial Manager);
8. “Cosmo-Politics in Spinoza” (Dr. Omar Del Nonno, PhD student);
9. “Renaissance thought in the medical culture of the Parisian Academy in early modern times” (Dr. Matteo Fornasier, PhD student);
10. “The Connections between Feminist and Political Epistemologies” (Dr. Francesca Putignano, PhD student).

For the subprojects, see: https://www.unive.it/pag/35130/

Internal exchange meetings (colloquia)
2019, June 12th - Marco Storni, “Institutions and Politics in the Debate over the Shape of the Earth, 1666-1740”. h. 2:45-4:00 p.m.
2019, May 6th - Jacomien Prins, “Marsilio Ficino’s Timaeus Commentary: Musical Speculations of a Renaissance Interpreter”.
2019, April 15th - Gregorio Baldin, “Against Aristotle and Metaphysics: Paolo Sarpi’s Natural Philosophy”.
2019, March 20th - Rodolfo Garau, “Manuscript draft on the introduction to my book on the concept of conatus”. Discussant: Omar del Nonno
2019, February 4th - Francesca Putignano, “Feminist Standpoint Theory: an Overview of Historical Roots and Epistemological Issues”. Discussant: Sascha Freyberg
2019, January 16th - Matteo Fornasier, “Echoes of Renaissance Thought in Academic Medicine and\"

Final results

i) PERSONNEL the hiring of the research group, namely 5 post-doc researchers, 3 PhD students, the Editorial Manager and the Copy Editor, as well as some collaborators as temporary guests and Visiting researchers;
ii) RESEARCH PROGRAM
iii) PUBLICATION STRATEGY
iv) COLLABORATIONS the setting up of side collaborations with artists and/or professionals with the aim of feeding and transferring the ERC research to their projects;
v) DISSEMINATION the launch of the ERC-EarlyModernCosmology operational and communication platform (website and Facebook)
vi) EVENTS the organisation of several workshop and seminars in Venice attracting many interested international scholars and improving the network on the themes of the early modern cosmology discussions;

Website & more info

More info: http://www.unive.it/earlymoderncosmology.