PhD Candidates: History of Philosophy in the Islamic World - Nijmegen, Nederland - Radboud University
Beschrijving
You will join the research team of Dr Andreas Lammer and work closely with him, with another PhD Candidate, and with a postdoctoral researcher, contributing to the ERC Starting Grant project "Avicenna Live: The Immediate Context of Avicenna's Intellectual Formation" (ALIVE).
You will produce original research either on the contents of a unique manuscript containing the philosophical works of one of Avicenna's teachers and investigate whether and how the views of his teacher differed from and/or influenced the formation of Avicenna's own philosophy (PhD project 1) or on a collection of 'Discussions' which Avicenna had with his own students and study whether and how these discussions may have contributed to reformulations and/or revisions in Avicenna's later works (PhD project 2).
Both PhD-projects, as well as the ERC project as a whole, aim at recalibrating our perception of Avicenna's intellectual development through the examination of widely neglected or indeed entirely unknown source texts. Together we will revise the common understanding of Avicenna's philosophy as the monolithic outcome of a steadfast genius and probe the possibility that Avicenna was integrated in a rich and dynamic culture of debate such that his philosophy, in light of the discussions he had with his teachers and students, bears the marks of development.
As part of your individual project, you will independently read and investigate source texts in their original Arabic language, investigate them in terms of their relation to Avicenna's main works, and also provide English translations of sections of your source texts as part of your analysis. It is essential that you are able to read Classical Arabic texts and have a good active command of the English language in speech and writing. Knowledge of the history of (late) ancient philosophy, especially the Aristotelian tradition, or medieval philosophy is highly recommended. Knowledge of Avicenna's philosophy is not immediately required but would obviously be particularly helpful.
As part of the position, which also comes with a yearly travel allowance to participate in academic events and disseminate the results of your own research, you will closely collaborate with the other members of the team in various research, dissemination and outreach activities, as well as organise an academic event yourself in collaboration with the team. This research position carries no teaching obligations.
Other than that, your research will be embedded within the Center for the History of Philosophy and Science (CHPS), an internationally recognised research unit at Radboud University. You will therefore also actively take part in CHPS's analogous initiatives. CHPS is a particularly cohesive research group. Its members gather daily in a friendly, informal and intellectually lively environment. They share their research in work-in-progress meetings, and they co-teach, co-publish, and co-organise conferences and workshops. PhD supervision within the centre is of high quality, not in the least because of the close and friendly interaction between supervisors and supervisees.