SubsidieMeestersRenewing the World: A Philosophical History of Early Modern Ecology
NEWWORLD investigates early modern ecological thought using controlled anachronism to connect historical debates with contemporary ecological issues, culminating in a multi-volume philosophical history and exhibition.
Projectdetails
Introduction
This project undertakes the first comprehensive investigation of early modern ecology. NEWWORLD counters the standard historiographical argument that ecological concern is a recent phenomenon. A key element in that claim is the assumption that the terminology of environmental care is recent: the term 'ecology' was invented in the 19th century by Ernst Haeckel; 'sustainability' is a 20th-century coinage; 'the environment' was used for the first time in English by Thomas Carlyle in 1827.
Historical Context
Yet, these terms that now help to define ecological sensibilities arose from long-lasting debates. The leading claim of this project is that early modernity was a particularly fertile period for ecological reflection.
Methodology
NEWWORLD proposes an innovative methodology to capture the breadth and philosophical substance of early modern ecological debates. It proceeds from present-day terms to construct terminological and conceptual constellations in early modern texts.
Controlled Anachronism
It uses a technique that historians (of philosophy) label 'controlled anachronism', which this project aims to fully exploit for the first time on a large scale.
Objectives
The objectives, subdivided into the four main areas:
- Environment
- Pollution
- Sustainability
- Ecological Justice
involve tracing a symbiotic connection between metaphysical, natural-philosophical, religious, and ethical ideas.
Expected Outcomes
NEWWORLD will both reveal the specificities of early modern thought on ecological matters and pioneer a dialogue with ecological debates as we know them today.
Main Output
The project's main output will be a multi-volume philosophical history of environmental care in the early modern period. This will be complemented by the curation of an exhibition, featuring 3D models of cosmographical images and projections of early modern plans for ideal cities, showing them to be laboratories of ecological views.
Conclusion
NEWWORLD seeks to offer a new paradigm for the intervention of the history of philosophy in present-day debates on ecology, and beyond.
Financiële details & Tijdlijn
Financiële details
| Subsidiebedrag | € 1.999.663 |
| Totale projectbegroting | € 1.999.663 |
Tijdlijn
| Startdatum | 1-5-2025 |
| Einddatum | 30-4-2030 |
| Subsidiejaar | 2025 |
Partners & Locaties
Projectpartners
- UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PAVIApenvoerder
Land(en)
Vergelijkbare projecten binnen European Research Council
| Project | Regeling | Bedrag | Jaar | Actie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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An Ecological History of Eurasian Art: Natural Resources, Aesthetic Practices, and Early Modern Globalization
ECOART aims to reframe art history through the lens of ecological interconnections by analyzing early modern artworks as repositories of environmental knowledge across Eurasia's Global South.
Ethics and Moral Life in the 18th Century: A New Take on Early Modern Ethics
This project aims to re-orient early modern ethics studies by focusing on 18th-century moral philosophers' practical guidance on specific moral issues through a thematic and comparative approach.
Ecologies of Violence: Crimes against Nature in the Contemporary Cultural Imagination
EcoViolence aims to analyze cultural representations of environmental violence, linking it to historical atrocities, to foster critical reflection and enhance ecological literacy in pedagogy.
Politics of Conservation and Unequal Ecological Exchange in European Peripheries
GreenFrontier examines how the EU's strict nature protection policies reshape human-environment relations in marginalized European regions, highlighting social injustices and new conservation dynamics.
Ontologies of Waste: A Relational Study of How Waste Comes to Matter for Humans, Society, and Future
WasteMatters explores the integral role of waste in society through more-than-human ethnography, aiming to shift the paradigm from circular economy to a relational theory of waste.