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William Ockham portrayed in a medieval manuscript.

Modern thinking was born in the Middle Ages

 

The line between the medieval and early modern periods is not as rigid as we have been accustomed to think. The scientific network Early Modern Thought, maintained by the European Science Foundation (ESF), aims precisely at proving that it is a fallacy in many fields of intellectual history to see the old line between the medieval and the early modern as a guideline for their research. Chairman of the network is Professor Simo Knuuttila, University of Helsinki.

According to Knuuttila, many trends seen as typical of early modern thought were, in fact, born in universities in the early 14th century. If we wish to study these ideas in their original setting, we will have to relinquish the thought that the ‘Modern Era’ begins in the 16th century. Through a number of examples from the field of philosophy, Knuuttila’s project shows how some intellectual traditions which began in the 14th century affected the birth of so-called modern ways of thinking and what kind of false interpretations neglecting this fact has led to. One of the interesting topical themes is the development of the theory of subjective individual rights.

Another project, Logic and Semantics in Medieval Theology, investigates which of the new theories of logic, developed in medieval universities, are based on theological debates on the Holy Trinity, the incarnation and other conceptually problematic doctrines. The subject has not been investigated systematically before. One of the interesting questions is how other than philosophical contexts have influenced the development of logic and philosophical theories in general.

The third project is a new one: Cognition, Self-Consciousness, and the Passions of the Soul. It investigates some central themes in the philosophy of the mind in ancient, medieval and modern philosophy: (1) philosophical psychology and conceptions of intuitive knowledge, reasoning, and cognitive normality, (2) the philosophy of self-consciousness, and (3) the will, the passions, and the mental disturbances in philosophical psychology.

Further information:
Professor Simo Knuuttila Department of Systematic Theology,
P.O. Box 33 FIN-00014 University of Helsinki,
Tel: +358-9-19123024
Email: simo.knuuttila@helsinki.fi