18. Juli 2021

Foto: Bibliotheca Hertziana, MPI für Kunstgeschichte, Florenz

The third summer school of the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies—Jewish Scepticism will be an online event held from 18–23 July 2021.

Summer School

Facets of Early Modern Scepticism

18–23 July 2021, Hamburg, Germany (via ZOOM)

Topic and Purpose
 
The early modern period is well known as a period when engagement with scepticism (or the question of the extent to which we can know anything) was widespread. While of course not all early modern thinkers were sympathetic to sceptical thought (some, such as Spinoza, considered scepticism to be incomprehensible), scepticism was a persistent and pertinent issue of the period between 1500 and 1700. But whence this fascination with scepticism? And what shape did it take?

The third summer school of the Maimonides Centre for Advanced Studies—Jewish Scepticism will pursue these questions from a novel interdisciplinary perspective with a special focus on Jewish thought and culture. More specifically, the summer school will bring together philosophers, experts in religious and Jewish studies, art historians, and literary scholars in order to investigate the multifaceted phenomenon of early modern scepticism from three perspectives:

1. Scepticism and Religion: Which impact did scepticism have on early modern theology and on practices and conceptions of religion both within and without Judaism?

2. Scepticism and Philosophy: What made scepticism so popular in the early modern period and what (novel?) forms of (anti-)scepticism were developed in this period?

3. Scepticism and Fine Arts: How did sceptical doubts shape early modern fine art: theatre, literature, and painting? And how did fine art contribute to the sceptical imagery of these times?

The aim of the summer school is to reveal the multidimensional meaning of early modern scepticism. It is intended for students and scholars from various backgrounds (ranging from history of philosophy to Jewish studies, religious studies, theatre and literary studies, and art history). We will invite MA and PhD students and early postdocs to appreciate the multifaceted structure of early modern scepticism and to share their unique perspective on it. To this end, participants will be asked to present their object of investigation in light of the interdisciplinary insights they will have gained by the end of the summer school.

Lecturer Team

The course leaders are Stephan Schmid and Giuseppe Veltri. They will be supported by an international team of experts in philosophy, religious and Jewish studies, art history, and literature: Alessandro Guetta, Grit Schorch, Jeremy Fogel, Guido Bartolucci, Michael Della Rocca, Sonja Schierbaum, Jennifer Marusic, Sandra Richter, and Margit Kern.

Find the full programme here (PDF).

Please register for the link to Zoom if you would like to attend: Maimonides-Centre"AT"uni-hamburg.de