Prof. dr. Piet Steenbakkers heeft een subsidie gekregen van de Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (NWO) in de Vrije competitie geesteswetenschappen. Steenbakkers (Filosofie / Descartes Centre) gaat onderzoek doen naar het leven en het netwerk van Spinoza.
Via de Vrije competitie is financiering beschikbaar voor de beste geesteswetenschappelijke onderzoeksvoorstellen, zonder thematische randvoorwaarden. Elk van de gehonoreerde programma's omvat minimaal twee samenhangende deelprojecten, waarbij de samenhang een aantoonbare meerwaarde heeft voor het eindresultaat van het onderzoeksprogramma. In totaal zijn er in deze ronde zes voorstellen gehonoreerd.
Het web van Spinoza
De waardering van Spinoza's filosofie is altijd sterk beïnvloed geweest door zijn reputatie en verhalen over zijn leven. Dit project onderzoekt dat verband, en ontwikkelt instrumenten om alle informatie die voorhanden is over Spinoza's leven en netwerken beschikbaar te maken.
Van de website van NWO:
Samenvatting
The significance of Spinoza (1632-1677) for the history of philosophy does not stand in need of documentation. He constructed his philosophy as a comprehensive system. While Spinoza was weaving an intricate theoretical web of his own, networks sprang up in which his ideas were hotly debated. Spinoza was part and parcel of the intellectual landscape of the Dutch Golden Age, in which philosophy played a much more vital role than is commonly appreciated.
This project is based on the thesis that in the reception and interpretation of Spinoza's thought his works, reputed character and biography are inextricably linked. It wants to develop scholarly tools for the study of his life, works and influence, and to clarify his philosophical impact by bringing out the context in which he flourished. The lines of research will result in four products:
- The Spinoza Web, an online data repository of all sources relating Spinoza's life, works, letters, correspondents and networks;
- A Bibliography of Spinoza's Works from 1663 to 1796, an exhaustive description of all early editions and translations;
- Van Velthuysen and His Circle, a monograph on a pivotal intellectual and his network;
- Weaving the Web: The Development of Spinoza's System, an integrated presentation of the stages of Spinoza's thought, in connection with the historical context.
Spinoza's thought has always exercised an attraction well beyond the groves of academe. The project will meet the highest standard of scholarship, but it is designed to be of service to a much larger audience, too.