Aristotelianism at Helmstedt: Progress of a European paradigm

• Applicants: Dr. Hartmut Beyer; Professor Dr. Bernd Roling
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 334218274

The project is going to explore the efficiency and the limits of Aristotelianism as a scientific paradigm. It focuses on one of the most renowned universities of the Reich in the period between the establishment of an Aristotelian methodology in the late 16th and its decline in the late 17th century. Instead of considering Aristotelianism primarily in the context of Lutheran theology, the project tries to show that Aristotelianism at Helmstedt is linked to the philosophical professionalism of members of the Philosophical faculty and to its capacity to offer a common paradigm for all disciplines. The question is, to what extent this methodological Aristotelianism determined the teaching, world view and self-perception of the philosophers at Helmstedt and how persistent it proved to be against new or alternative scientific models. The project will combine various methodological approaches: The study of academic teaching by the use of schedules of lectures and disputations, the examination of philosophical standpoints by tracking crucial problems of Aristotle's worldview (the doctrine of the soul and the theory of matter) and the presentation of Aristotelianism in academic programs. In addition, the role of Aristotelianism in the work of certain Helmstedt scholars, which are still largely underexplored, will be examined.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants