The Root of the Epistemological Problem of the Connection of the Rational Principle to the External World in the Rationalists of the Early Modern Period - Descartes, Leibniz and Du Châtelet

• Applicant: Dr. Clara Carus
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy
• Term: from 2018 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 412596343

In my research project I wish to investigate the root of a problem that arose in the foundation of knowledge based on a rational principle. The problem comes to light in Kant, i.e. in the question of how the content of sensibility is to be thought together with an internal principle which founds knowledge. Yet the actual root of the problem lies in the rationalists of the Early Modern Era, namely in Descartes and Leibniz. If indubitable knowledge is to be founded on a universal inner principle, in separation from sensibility, the question necessarily then arises (which the rationalists themselves pose) as to how the content of sensibility is to enter into the principle of knowledge. In other words: how is knowledge founded on a rational principle to serve as knowledge of an exterior world or of an object dependent on that world. The problem is precarious, insofar as it simultaneously puts the rationalistic point of departure into question; namely of founding knowledge on a general inner principle. My research project is to cast new light on the problem by introducing a philosopher, Émilie du Châtelet, who has until now been neglected in precisely this context. As with Descartes and Leibniz, she also founds knowledge on a rational principle, yet she simultaneously emphasises the value of experiential knowledge for science and philosophy. With her concept of time she goes beyond her own rational principle and founds it on a reflection of its idea, which takes into account our knowledge of the exterior world through sensibility. Du Châtelet’s concept of time therefore provides the point of departure for this project, by tugging at the root of the problem of the connection between the rational principle and the exterior world in the rationalists of the Early Modern Era. My proposed research is of particular interest today since the problem was never fully solved, and I purport to have found in Du Châtelet a key to initiating a solution to the problem without falling back on an empirical premise.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• Host: Professor Dr. Dominik Perler