Transnational knowledge transfer in the Enlightenment (c.1750-1790): the case of József Fogarasi Pap
<p>The present thesis offers the first comprehensive study of the intellectual career of Transylvanian philosopher József Fogarasi Pap (1744-1784), analysing the context, influences, and reception of the metaphysical essays submitted by him to Enlightenment prize contests in the Dutch Republic...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2022
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| _version_ | 1797107746912337920 |
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| author | Florutau, MI |
| author2 | Lifschitz, A |
| author_facet | Lifschitz, A Florutau, MI |
| author_sort | Florutau, MI |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>The present thesis offers the first comprehensive study of the intellectual career of Transylvanian philosopher József Fogarasi Pap (1744-1784), analysing the context, influences, and reception of the metaphysical essays submitted by him to Enlightenment prize contests
in the Dutch Republic and in Berlin. A contextual intellectual biography, this thesis combines a transnational methodology with a textual analysis of the essays, and highlights the importance of the prize essay qua genre in the institutionalisation and democratisation of eighteenth-century knowledge networks. Fogarasi Pap’s remarkable success in philosophical competitions serves as a case study for underscoring three arguments. Firstly, religious discourse did not belong to a separate religious Enlightenment, but was a consistent feature
of early modern philosophy. Secondly, Fogarasi Pap’s eclectic negotiation of various ideas and influences was a common method employed by thinkers to answer prize competitions’ questions, representing an Enlightenment philosophical and literary genre. Lastly, the philosophical endeavours of Fogarasi Pap and his competitors must be understood in the context of an institutional framework of philosophical production, namely the societies and academies that sponsored the competitions.</p>
<p>The first two chapters of the thesis follow the transnational knowledge networks of which Fogarasi Pap was a part: the Transylvanian Protestant peregrinatio academica, and the prize contests proliferating in eighteenth-century Europe. The following three chapters focus
on four different essays submitted to three contests: the University of Leiden’s Legatum Stolpianum, the Haarlem-based Teylers First Society contest, and the Berlin Academy’s Speculative Class. Each chapter analyses the institutional context, Fogarasi Pap’s entries, and
those of other competitors, in order to recover the intellectual microcosm of the everyday, mid-level, now unduly-forgotten practitioners of Enlightenment philosophy. Finally, in terms of thematic analysis, the thesis covers the broad spectrum of topics that represented the interests of eighteenth-century mainstream philosophy, from moral aesthetics, to the uniqueness of God, providence, and force of matter.</p>
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:20:21Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:c879ead8-3a5f-4172-a03e-60e95853c37c |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T07:20:21Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:c879ead8-3a5f-4172-a03e-60e95853c37c2022-09-20T13:30:46ZTransnational knowledge transfer in the Enlightenment (c.1750-1790): the case of József Fogarasi PapThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:c879ead8-3a5f-4172-a03e-60e95853c37cIntellectual historyTransylvania (Romania)--Intellectual lifeEnlightenmentLearned institutions and societiesNetherlands--History--1648-1795EnglishHyrax Deposit2022Florutau, MILifschitz, A<p>The present thesis offers the first comprehensive study of the intellectual career of Transylvanian philosopher József Fogarasi Pap (1744-1784), analysing the context, influences, and reception of the metaphysical essays submitted by him to Enlightenment prize contests in the Dutch Republic and in Berlin. A contextual intellectual biography, this thesis combines a transnational methodology with a textual analysis of the essays, and highlights the importance of the prize essay qua genre in the institutionalisation and democratisation of eighteenth-century knowledge networks. Fogarasi Pap’s remarkable success in philosophical competitions serves as a case study for underscoring three arguments. Firstly, religious discourse did not belong to a separate religious Enlightenment, but was a consistent feature of early modern philosophy. Secondly, Fogarasi Pap’s eclectic negotiation of various ideas and influences was a common method employed by thinkers to answer prize competitions’ questions, representing an Enlightenment philosophical and literary genre. Lastly, the philosophical endeavours of Fogarasi Pap and his competitors must be understood in the context of an institutional framework of philosophical production, namely the societies and academies that sponsored the competitions.</p> <p>The first two chapters of the thesis follow the transnational knowledge networks of which Fogarasi Pap was a part: the Transylvanian Protestant peregrinatio academica, and the prize contests proliferating in eighteenth-century Europe. The following three chapters focus on four different essays submitted to three contests: the University of Leiden’s Legatum Stolpianum, the Haarlem-based Teylers First Society contest, and the Berlin Academy’s Speculative Class. Each chapter analyses the institutional context, Fogarasi Pap’s entries, and those of other competitors, in order to recover the intellectual microcosm of the everyday, mid-level, now unduly-forgotten practitioners of Enlightenment philosophy. Finally, in terms of thematic analysis, the thesis covers the broad spectrum of topics that represented the interests of eighteenth-century mainstream philosophy, from moral aesthetics, to the uniqueness of God, providence, and force of matter.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Intellectual history Transylvania (Romania)--Intellectual life Enlightenment Learned institutions and societies Netherlands--History--1648-1795 Florutau, MI Transnational knowledge transfer in the Enlightenment (c.1750-1790): the case of József Fogarasi Pap |
| title | Transnational knowledge transfer in the Enlightenment (c.1750-1790): the case of József Fogarasi Pap |
| title_full | Transnational knowledge transfer in the Enlightenment (c.1750-1790): the case of József Fogarasi Pap |
| title_fullStr | Transnational knowledge transfer in the Enlightenment (c.1750-1790): the case of József Fogarasi Pap |
| title_full_unstemmed | Transnational knowledge transfer in the Enlightenment (c.1750-1790): the case of József Fogarasi Pap |
| title_short | Transnational knowledge transfer in the Enlightenment (c.1750-1790): the case of József Fogarasi Pap |
| title_sort | transnational knowledge transfer in the enlightenment c 1750 1790 the case of jozsef fogarasi pap |
| topic | Intellectual history Transylvania (Romania)--Intellectual life Enlightenment Learned institutions and societies Netherlands--History--1648-1795 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT florutaumi transnationalknowledgetransferintheenlightenmentc17501790thecaseofjozseffogarasipap |