van der Zande, Dr. Johan

independent scholar, USA

Aufenthalt: 03.09.2018 - 30.10.2018

Zur Person

Geburtsjahr: 1948 

Studium:
1970-75; Ph.D. 1980

wissenschaftliche Anstellungen bzw. Tätigkeiten:
wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, History Dept. University of Amsterdam, 1982-84 lecturer, History Dept, Univ. of Califomia, Santa Barbara, 1994-95 

wichtige wissenschaftliche Funktionen und Mitgliedschaften:
Mitglied der Gesellschaft für die Erforschung des 18. Jahrhundert since 1987

Forschungsprojekt

Strolling Philosophers. German Philosophy between Wolff and Kant

The first theme of my project is a discussion oft he polemical origins and function of the term Popularphilosophie that is commonly used for philosophers working in the period between Wolff and Kant. For various reasons the term does no justice to these philosophers. The historically accurate alternative is the science of man with which many of these philosophers identified. Their coherent anthropological philosophy allows focus on an otherwise disparate group of thinkers. The second theme is indicated by the title of the project. lt is a reference to an extended metaphor of the English garden as exemplified in Wörlitz and its characteristic layout of meandering paths inviting the stroller to different perspectives on philosophical truths. I apply the metaphore to the anthropological philosophers I am dealing with. I have worked out this theme in some detail, a kind of garden stroll through the Aufklärung. The third theme deals with three variations on the science of man, medical, sociological, and racial as exemplified by respectively Johann Georg Sulzer, Christian Garve and Christoph Meiners.