Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships in Political Philosophy and History of Early Modern Philosophy N.01/2020

 

Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships in Political Philosophy and History of Early Modern Philosophy

Department of Philosophy

University of São Paulo (Brazil)

 

 

The Research Project on Power, conflict and freedom: Spinoza and the paths of modern and contemporary political philosophy on democracy* announces three (3) postdoctoral positions in the Philosophy Department, University of São Paulo, in the following areas:

 

- Contemporary Political Philosophy

- Early Modern Political Philosophy (16th-18th centuries)

- History of Early Modern Philosophy (16th-18th centuries)

 

The fellowships initially carry a two-year term, but are renewable for one and a half additional years, beginning in October 2020 (with start date negotiable). Each Fellow will be a Post-Doctorate member of the Department of Philosophy, and will join the research activities of the Research Project (research seminars, conferences, meetings and elaboration of scientific reports). These fellowships correspond to a research position, with no teaching responsibilities attached.

 

The fellowships are sponsored by FAPESP. Chosen candidates will earn R$ 7.373,10 (Brazilian currency) per month, tax free.

 

Applicants may apply in more than one area. They should have completed the PhD in Philosophy, preferably no earlier than 2015. For each position, the applicant must include:

- an updated Curriculum Vitae;

- copy of PhD certification.

- a statement of proposed research (no more than 10 pages, plus 1 separate page for bibliography), specifying the topic(s) to be studied, including a research schedule for the first two years, a list of expected publications and their connection with the theme of the main project;

- a writing sample (dissertation chapter or other paper);

- one letter of recommendation.

 

All documents (in PDF) should be uploaded  to the address below. Candidates will be notified by e-mail once their dossier has been processed (please provide an e-mail address in the application).

 

All dossier materials and the selection committee's evaluations remain confidential. The committee is not able to provide feedback on individual applications.

 

Deadline for the receipt of all applications: August 5th 2020.

The list of accepted applications will be published on the official website of the USP Philosophy Department by August 6th 2020.

Candidates will be able to question the rejection of the initial application up to 48 hours after this publication.

The final list of accepted initial applications will be published on the official website of the USP Philosophy Department by August 10th 2020.

The final results will be published on the official website of USP Philosophy Department by September 1st, 2020.

 

 

Applications (in English, French, Italian, Spanish, or Portuguese) should be submitted to:

http://filosofia.fflch.usp.br/posdoc/edital012020/inscricao

 

More information can be obtained at these websites:

Research Project : : https://bv.fapesp.br/pt/auxilios/104398/poder-conflito-e-liberdade-espinosa-e-os-percursos-da-filosofia-politica-moderna-e-contemporanea-a/

USP Department of Philosophy : filosofia.fflch.usp.br

FAPESP : www.fapesp.br

 

For information not available at these sites, please contact Prof. Luís César Oliva at lcoliva@usp.br

 

 

*Power, conflict and freedom: Spinoza and the paths of modern and contemporary political philosophy on democracy

 

Abstract: Three moments are decisive in the constitution of political philosophy: the one that Moses Finley called “the invention of politics” to refer to the birth of Greek democracy and Roman republic; the one defined by Machiavelli through the original division of society between the desire of the Great to oppress and command and that of the People to be neither oppressed nor commanded; and that one which, with Spinoza, introduced the modern idea of democracy as an immanent power in the multitudo or collective power of creation and expression of rights. These three moments open the field of the history of the invention of the republic and democracy as an exercise of freedom and invention of rights, politics being effected as a passage from the logic of force to the logic of power, that is, from war to legitimacy of conflict under laws. Of these three founding moments, we will take as point of reference the modern conception of Spinozistic origin. By means of this we will examined, on the one hand, the political significance of the emergence of modern ideas of individual and natural / civil right, and, on the other hand, the continuities and ruptures in political thought brought about by contemporary philosophy – that is, the development of ideas of class struggle, of state, of power and of violence. We believe that it is possible to find there a tradition within which Spinoza’s political thought gains a new light, a tradition designed by contemporary authors who, like Spinoza, in so far as were concerned to mark the legitimate instance of the conflict, searched support in Ancients and Machiavelli in order to understand the political participation of the citizens under the aegis of the struggle for guarantee and conquest of new rights, having as reference the defense of freedom of dissent.