Scientific Project

In a landmark paper published in 1982, Miles Burnyeat advised us against the “standing temptation for philosophers to find anticipations of their own views in the great thinkers of the past” (1982, p. 3). Specifically, he warned us about the attempt, exemplified in his paper by Berkeley, to argue for the presence of Idealist positions in ancient thought. Burnyeat’s advice had a profound resonance on the subsequent view of idealism. Still today, idealism is most often regarded as a philosophical movement tied to a specific moment in history, namely the European Modern Age. Idealism belongs to “the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, although anticipated by certain aspects of seventeenth century philosophy and continuing into the twentieth century” (Guyer and Horstmann 2023a; see also Guyer and Horstmann 2023b).

This contemporary widespread assessment, however, comes as a surprise to those who are familiar with the way modern idealist thinkers themselves have always told their own story. In fact, Berkeley is not the only philosopher who has fallen prey to the temptation Burnyeat advised us against. On the contrary, virtually all major figures of modern and contemporary idealism – such as Immanuel Kant, Paul Natorp, Hermann Cohen and Edmund Husserl – have identified ancient philosophers, and often Plato, as precursors to their own idealist doctrines. Even the critics – such as Friedrich Nietzsche – have shared this assessment. If we are to trust these testimonies, it turns out that idealism is nothing less than congenial with the history of Platonism itself and is already embedded in the very Greek origin of European Culture as a whole, philosophical and non-philosophical.

Through the collaboration between the Philosophy departments of University of Rome La Sapienza and UMR-CNRS 8163 STL, the History, Prehistory, and Counter-History of Idealism: Ancient and Contemporary Perspectives project (henceforth HPI) investigates, both historically and systematically, the question of the presence, meaning, and forms of Idealism in Antiquity. Specifically, HPI offers a contribution to Philosophy, the History of Ideas of Literature, and the History of European Culture by pursuing three main objectives:

1. Charting ancient idealism. From a historical perspective, HPI identifies elements of Idealism in Ancient Thought, primarily examined through the various perspectives of late nineteenth and twentieth century post-Kantian Philosophy. In this regard, the project addresses specific inquiries, such as:

   • Can we meaningfully describe any ancient stance with respect to the existence of the actual world as “idealistic”?

   • In what distinctive ways did post-Kantian thinkers belonging to the Neo-Kantian and the Phenomenological tradition retrospectively perceive central figures in Ancient Philosophy as idealistic thinkers?

   • How did insights in Ancient Philosophy lay the groundwork for modern and contemporary transcendental Idealism in its various forms?

Answers to these questions hold the potential to chart, assess, and complete a critical-historical development of Idealism as a complex line of reflection preceding its canonical origin in Modernity.

2. Assessing ancient idealism. From a systematic perspective, HPI assesses the meanings of Idealism in both Antiquity and late nineteenth and twentieth century Transcendental Philosophy. Here, the chief research goal is not to chart, but rather to evaluate the possibility and nature of Idealism in Ancient Philosophy. This also involves examining the most significant conceptual changes and theoretical shifts that have led to, and culminated into, the post-Kantian appropriation of idealistic stances. Accordingly, HPI addresses the following questions:

   • How could philosophers in Antiquity be idealists? What conceptual tools or devices did they have, if any, to contrast realist, dogmatic, and empiricist views?

   • How have key conceptual resources of Greek thinkers been refashioned, modified, adapted, and even distorted in post-Kantian idealisms?

In this regard, the project also evaluates both the philosophical originality of ancient idealistic insights and the fruitfulness (or lack thereof) of their alterations within the transcendental tradition. 

3. Exploring ancient “playful” idealism. Following Husserl’s suggestion, according to which Idealism is already embedded in the very Greek origin of European Culture as a whole, HPI’s relevant sources are not limited to purely philosophical texts. Thus, the project intersects the fields of Classical Studies and Literature, and is determined to explore the following sets of questions:

• Can we meaningfully identify any "playful" ancient activities - such as sophistry, comedy, and games - as issuing claims that could be labelled as “idealistic” in the rigorous sense spelled out in the research objective A?

• What kind of resources have been used or developed to make these claims in the work of poets, rhetoricians, and of any other kind of playful creators?

• How is one to assess the distinctive nature and effect of such playful devices on the nature and expression of these claims?