Before it got its actual name, the predecessor of the "Forum Descartes" was a collaboration between American and French universities aimed to let American PhD students in the history of early-modern European philosophy who came to France to meet their French colleagues and discuss each other’s work. Over the years, early-career researchers from other countries also joined. After the COVID-19 pandemic had disrupted this routine, the first “Forum Descartes,” which involved universities from 5 countries (USA, France, The Netherlands, Italy and Romania), took place in Paris, in January of 2024. Its format was partially that of the earlier Franco-American meetings: 20 PhD students and postdocs presented their research in 20-minute lectures. 20 other PhD students and postdocs commented on these papers in 15-minute commentaries, and finally, the audience was invited to join the discussion. Moreover, one morning was dedicated to two sessions of the type “author meets critics,” in which one text edition and one stimulating monograph were discussed by the senior researchers present.
For this year’s edition, Christoph Lüthy & Carla Rita Palmerino of the Center for the History of Philosophy and Science (Radboud University) and Paul Ziche & Ariane den Daas of the Descartes Centre (Utrecht University) acted as the organizers. There was a certain logic to the Forum Descartes moving from Paris to Utrecht. After all, while being French, Descartes wrote most of his works in The Netherlands, and it was in Utrecht where his philosophy was first taught – and first forbidden!
From the 16th to the 18th of January, about sixty scholars from about fifteen different countries convened, to discuss a broad range of topics and authors in the history of early-modern philosophy. The variety of themes and approaches was refreshing! The “author meets critic” session was dedicated, as in 2024, to the discussion of one new pioneering monograph and one important new text edition. This year, Denis Kambouchner & Annie Bitbol-Hespériès discussed with Tad Schmaltz (replacing Delphine Antoine-Mahut) and Steven Nadler the new Gallimard edition of Descartes’s Le Monde and L’Homme (2023/4), and Tarek Dika discussed with Tad Schmaltz and Élodie Cassan his new book Descartes’s Method: The Formation of the Subject of Science (Oxford: OUP, 2023). In addition to the sessions, there was ample opportunity for all scholars to get to know each other – an opportunity that resulted in many new ideas and collaborations. Furthermore, the philosophical history of the city was explored during a city walk, in which Paul Ziche retraced the footsteps of Descartes, Spinoza and Anna Maria van Schuurman.
At the end of the conference, Lüthy, the head of the organizing committee, drew grateful attention to the spirit of kindness that had governed this meeting. In a day and age of one-upmanship, of influencers and big claims, the cooperation, civility and genuine interest shown by all participants in each other’s work, looked almost subversive. It might serve as a model, so he concluded, for the tone in which discussions in academia and society at large ought to be led. With those words, he handed over the organization to Antonella del Prete of the University of Turin, who will organize the next edition of the Forum Descartes.
Find the whole programme of the Forum Descartes below.
