Papers by Iryna Mykhailova
Zwischenwelt. Lebensspuren: Autobiografik von Exil, Widerstand, Verfolgung und Lagererfahrung. Na... more Zwischenwelt. Lebensspuren: Autobiografik von Exil, Widerstand, Verfolgung und Lagererfahrung. Nawrocka, Irene and Marianne Windsperger (Hrsg.). Klagenfurt/Celovec: Drava (2020)
D’Holbach’s Legacy in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, 2022
The chapter focuses on the available translations and peculiarities of reception of d’Holbach’s v... more The chapter focuses on the available translations and peculiarities of reception of d’Holbach’s versatile legacy in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. In 18th-century Russia, d’Holbach’s treatises found keen readership among the educated Russian nobility despite the Système de la nature was banned by the Russian authorities for its atheist content. Due to the strict censorship, d’Holbach’s writings could not be published as books in Russia, but selected fragments from the Système de la nature, Système social, and La Politique naturelle occasionally appeared on pages of the Russian journals. The chapter tends to clarify, which translations of d’Holbach were performed in the Russian Empire as well as who constituted his readership. D’Holbach’s election as a membre externe of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the 11th of September 1780 is considered as well. The status of d’Holbach’s atheist books in Russia dramatically changed after the October Revolution of 1917: viewed by the Soviet scholars as one of the most coherent critics of religion, “personal enemy of God”, whose treatises were banned in the Orthodox Russian Empire, now served ideological needs of the newly established Soviet state.
This essay represents a commentary on the recollections of the German-American historian of philo... more This essay represents a commentary on the recollections of the German-American historian of philosophy, and expert on the Renaissance Paul Oskar Kristeller concerning Karl and Gertrud Jaspers. It focuses on the personal and philosophical relations between Kristeller and Jaspers, the impact of Existenzphilosophie on Kristeller’s Weltanschauung, and the role of Erich Frank in the development of Jaspers’ own philosophical ideas.
Conference Programmes by Iryna Mykhailova
Ces journées d'étude consacrées à « l'institution philosophique française et la Renaissance » son... more Ces journées d'étude consacrées à « l'institution philosophique française et la Renaissance » sont centrées sur « l'époque d'Étienne Gilson ». Il s'agit de poursuivre la réflexion, entamée dans L'Institution philosophique française et la Renaissance : l'époque de Victor Cousin (Dominique Couzinet et Mario Meliadò éds., Leiden, Brill, Brill's Series in Philosophical Historiographies, sous presse), sur les enjeux intellectuels, idéologiques et politiques de la pratique de l'histoire de la philosophie en France, entre le XIX e et le XX e siècle, et d'enquêter plus particulièrement, dans ce cadre, sur le statut historiographique de la pensée de la Renaissance.
D’Holbach’s Legacy in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union: Translations and Receptions
Baron... more D’Holbach’s Legacy in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union: Translations and Receptions
Baron d’Holbach was well-known in the Russian Empire as one of the initiators of the French translation of the book Drevnyaya Rossijskaya Istoriya (1766) written by the outstanding Russian scientist, homo Universalis M.V. Lomonosov. D’Holbach was also one of the first thinkers in France, who has highly evaluated the achievements of Lomonosov and initiated dissemination of his ideas in Europe. In 1780, d’Holbach became an honored member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint-Petersburg. Since that time, translations of his works started to be published in Russia. However, not all of them were well received: d’Holbach’s Système de la Nature (1770) has been banned several times in Russia in the nineteenth century due to its sharp materialism and destructive impact on the Christian religion. Later, in the Soviet Union, the interest in d’Holbach’s legacy has significantly increased due to the rapid change of ideological framework of the Soviet state. Numerous books of the French materialist have been translated and commented by Soviet scholars starting from 1923 with the banned in Russian Empire Système de la Nature. The paper examines the translations of d’Holbach’s writings as well as interpretation of his ideas in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.
The workshop forms part of the international and interdisciplinary research group Modern Jewish S... more The workshop forms part of the international and interdisciplinary research group Modern Jewish Studies which we have been setting up at the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, the Göttingen Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences of the Georg-August-University. It focuses on the networks of German exile scholars of Renaissance, who have left the country in 1930-40s and settled in safer European countries or in North America. Through the networks, German intellectuals could restart their careers and receive legal or financial support in the host country due to their connections with other intellectuals and organizations abroad. The workshop seeks to comprehend exile experience of German historians of Renaissance through the perspective of their collaborations in exile, personal and professional connections and epistolary networks.
My paper focused on the pathway of exile and academic career of German historian of philosophy and political thought, a student of Martin Heidegger and an expert on Portuguese and Italian humanism Elisabeth Feist Hirsch (1904-1998), who emigrated from Europe to the United States in 1937. Her case exemplifies the crucial role scholarly networks played in the rescue of German-Jewish intellectuals from Nazi persecution. The paper is based on Feist Hirsch's published works as well as archival materials. I am very grateful to Professor John Tedeschi, who kindly provided me with E. Feist Hirsch's unpublished correspondence and notes.
The workshop was organized with the financial and organizational support of the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, Göttingen Institute of Advanced Studies for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
My paper for the Workshop is titled "Defending Objectivity: Paul Oskar Kristeller and the Controv... more My paper for the Workshop is titled "Defending Objectivity: Paul Oskar Kristeller and the Controversy on Historical Knowledge in the United States"
Abstract
Historical methodology has been and still remains the subject of ongoing debates both in Europe and the United States. This paper focuses on the contribution to this discussion made by the German historian of philosophy and expert on the Renaissance Paul Oskar Kristeller (1905-1999), who fled to the United States in 1939 escaping from Nazi persecution. He restarted his career as an Associate in Philosophy at Columbia University in the same year and remained affiliated with that academic institution until his death. This paper deals with Kristeller’s experience of functioning as an émigré historian of philosophy in American academia, where traditions of historical research significantly differed from those in Weimar Germany. As a scholar, whose philosophical background was formed at the University of Heidelberg under the influence of Platonic tradition and German idealism, Kristeller was deeply concerned with the methodological approach to historical knowledge in the United States that was very much affected by positivism and relativism. In his numerous articles, Kristeller defended the objectivity of historical knowledge and criticized the positivist approach to historical research emphasizing the significant differences between the methods of history and those of the natural sciences. Working on Kristeller’s essays as well as his unpublished papers located at the Columbia Rare Books and Manuscript Library, I will examine his contribution to the controversy on historical methodology in the United States. I will explore his vision of the tasks and research tools of the historian, his specific approach to the training of students of history as well as his interpretation of theoretical relations between history of philosophy, the history of ideas and intellectual history. This paper aims, on the one hand, to examine Kristeller’s participation in the mentioned debates, and, on the other hand, to provoke further discussion of contemporary methodological problems of historical research.
Books by Iryna Mykhailova
Brill, 2022
Gathering together generations of scholars, The Great Protector of Wits provides a new assessment... more Gathering together generations of scholars, The Great Protector of Wits provides a new assessment of baron d'Holbach (1723-1789) and his circle. A challenging gure of the European Enlightenment, Paul-Henri Thiry d'Holbach not only was a radically materialistic philosopher, a champion of anticlericalism, the author of the Système de la nature known as "the Bible of atheists", an idéologue, a popularizer of the natural sciences and a proli c contributor to the Encyclopédie, but also played a crucial role as an organizer of intellectual networks, a master of disseminating clandestine literature and a consummate strategist in authorial ctions. In this collective volume, for the rst time, all these di ferent threads of d'Holbach's "philosophy in action" are considered and analyzed in their interconnection.
Conference Presentations by Iryna Mykhailova
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Papers by Iryna Mykhailova
Conference Programmes by Iryna Mykhailova
Baron d’Holbach was well-known in the Russian Empire as one of the initiators of the French translation of the book Drevnyaya Rossijskaya Istoriya (1766) written by the outstanding Russian scientist, homo Universalis M.V. Lomonosov. D’Holbach was also one of the first thinkers in France, who has highly evaluated the achievements of Lomonosov and initiated dissemination of his ideas in Europe. In 1780, d’Holbach became an honored member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint-Petersburg. Since that time, translations of his works started to be published in Russia. However, not all of them were well received: d’Holbach’s Système de la Nature (1770) has been banned several times in Russia in the nineteenth century due to its sharp materialism and destructive impact on the Christian religion. Later, in the Soviet Union, the interest in d’Holbach’s legacy has significantly increased due to the rapid change of ideological framework of the Soviet state. Numerous books of the French materialist have been translated and commented by Soviet scholars starting from 1923 with the banned in Russian Empire Système de la Nature. The paper examines the translations of d’Holbach’s writings as well as interpretation of his ideas in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.
My paper focused on the pathway of exile and academic career of German historian of philosophy and political thought, a student of Martin Heidegger and an expert on Portuguese and Italian humanism Elisabeth Feist Hirsch (1904-1998), who emigrated from Europe to the United States in 1937. Her case exemplifies the crucial role scholarly networks played in the rescue of German-Jewish intellectuals from Nazi persecution. The paper is based on Feist Hirsch's published works as well as archival materials. I am very grateful to Professor John Tedeschi, who kindly provided me with E. Feist Hirsch's unpublished correspondence and notes.
The workshop was organized with the financial and organizational support of the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, Göttingen Institute of Advanced Studies for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Abstract
Historical methodology has been and still remains the subject of ongoing debates both in Europe and the United States. This paper focuses on the contribution to this discussion made by the German historian of philosophy and expert on the Renaissance Paul Oskar Kristeller (1905-1999), who fled to the United States in 1939 escaping from Nazi persecution. He restarted his career as an Associate in Philosophy at Columbia University in the same year and remained affiliated with that academic institution until his death. This paper deals with Kristeller’s experience of functioning as an émigré historian of philosophy in American academia, where traditions of historical research significantly differed from those in Weimar Germany. As a scholar, whose philosophical background was formed at the University of Heidelberg under the influence of Platonic tradition and German idealism, Kristeller was deeply concerned with the methodological approach to historical knowledge in the United States that was very much affected by positivism and relativism. In his numerous articles, Kristeller defended the objectivity of historical knowledge and criticized the positivist approach to historical research emphasizing the significant differences between the methods of history and those of the natural sciences. Working on Kristeller’s essays as well as his unpublished papers located at the Columbia Rare Books and Manuscript Library, I will examine his contribution to the controversy on historical methodology in the United States. I will explore his vision of the tasks and research tools of the historian, his specific approach to the training of students of history as well as his interpretation of theoretical relations between history of philosophy, the history of ideas and intellectual history. This paper aims, on the one hand, to examine Kristeller’s participation in the mentioned debates, and, on the other hand, to provoke further discussion of contemporary methodological problems of historical research.
Books by Iryna Mykhailova
Conference Presentations by Iryna Mykhailova
Baron d’Holbach was well-known in the Russian Empire as one of the initiators of the French translation of the book Drevnyaya Rossijskaya Istoriya (1766) written by the outstanding Russian scientist, homo Universalis M.V. Lomonosov. D’Holbach was also one of the first thinkers in France, who has highly evaluated the achievements of Lomonosov and initiated dissemination of his ideas in Europe. In 1780, d’Holbach became an honored member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint-Petersburg. Since that time, translations of his works started to be published in Russia. However, not all of them were well received: d’Holbach’s Système de la Nature (1770) has been banned several times in Russia in the nineteenth century due to its sharp materialism and destructive impact on the Christian religion. Later, in the Soviet Union, the interest in d’Holbach’s legacy has significantly increased due to the rapid change of ideological framework of the Soviet state. Numerous books of the French materialist have been translated and commented by Soviet scholars starting from 1923 with the banned in Russian Empire Système de la Nature. The paper examines the translations of d’Holbach’s writings as well as interpretation of his ideas in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.
My paper focused on the pathway of exile and academic career of German historian of philosophy and political thought, a student of Martin Heidegger and an expert on Portuguese and Italian humanism Elisabeth Feist Hirsch (1904-1998), who emigrated from Europe to the United States in 1937. Her case exemplifies the crucial role scholarly networks played in the rescue of German-Jewish intellectuals from Nazi persecution. The paper is based on Feist Hirsch's published works as well as archival materials. I am very grateful to Professor John Tedeschi, who kindly provided me with E. Feist Hirsch's unpublished correspondence and notes.
The workshop was organized with the financial and organizational support of the Lichtenberg-Kolleg, Göttingen Institute of Advanced Studies for the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Abstract
Historical methodology has been and still remains the subject of ongoing debates both in Europe and the United States. This paper focuses on the contribution to this discussion made by the German historian of philosophy and expert on the Renaissance Paul Oskar Kristeller (1905-1999), who fled to the United States in 1939 escaping from Nazi persecution. He restarted his career as an Associate in Philosophy at Columbia University in the same year and remained affiliated with that academic institution until his death. This paper deals with Kristeller’s experience of functioning as an émigré historian of philosophy in American academia, where traditions of historical research significantly differed from those in Weimar Germany. As a scholar, whose philosophical background was formed at the University of Heidelberg under the influence of Platonic tradition and German idealism, Kristeller was deeply concerned with the methodological approach to historical knowledge in the United States that was very much affected by positivism and relativism. In his numerous articles, Kristeller defended the objectivity of historical knowledge and criticized the positivist approach to historical research emphasizing the significant differences between the methods of history and those of the natural sciences. Working on Kristeller’s essays as well as his unpublished papers located at the Columbia Rare Books and Manuscript Library, I will examine his contribution to the controversy on historical methodology in the United States. I will explore his vision of the tasks and research tools of the historian, his specific approach to the training of students of history as well as his interpretation of theoretical relations between history of philosophy, the history of ideas and intellectual history. This paper aims, on the one hand, to examine Kristeller’s participation in the mentioned debates, and, on the other hand, to provoke further discussion of contemporary methodological problems of historical research.