The PHILIUMM Project aims to reassess the thought of the philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716) through a systematic exploration of his unpublished mathematical manuscripts. As he himself stressed on several occasions, these two facets of his work were closely linked. Yet half of his mathematical output is still completely unpublished. As for the half that has been published, much of it has not been edited according to rigorous scientific standards (to the point where we sometimes read texts invented by the editors).
The project is based on a research group that has developed over the last ten years in France, and is now without equivalent anywhere in the world. It also relies on a close partnership with the Leibniz-Archiv in Hanover, and benefits from recent advances in the digitization of Leibniz's mathematical manuscripts (accessible online since 2016). Preliminary results have already been obtained on specific sets of texts (mainly on algebra and geometry: mathesis.altervista.org). We have identified original scientific hypotheses to guide the study of nearly 17,000 pages of unpublished material.
The main hypothesis is a radical reinterpretation of what it meant for Leibniz to reduce mathematical truths to "identities". This hypothesis has strong echoes in current philosophy of logic and mathematics, and will hopefully shed new light on contemporary debates. We also hope to use this project to make Leibniz's thought more accessible (especially to historians of mathematics, mathematics teachers and students) by publishing editions of texts online and developing new digital tools for exploring them.
The project is divided into five tasks corresponding to the following themes: Dyadica (binary arithmetic), Ars combinatoria, Foundations of differential calculus, Doctrine of mathematical abstraction, Machines and formal thought.
Chercheurs statutaires et contractuels
- David Rabouin, directeur de recherche
- Sandra Bella, chargée de recherche sous contrat CNRS-Philiumm (2021-2023)
- Mattia Brancato, chargé de recherche sous contrat sous contrat CNRS-Philiumm (2021-2023)
- Jimmy Degroote, doctorant
- Arilès Remaki, chargé de recherche sous contrat CNRS-Philiumm
- Filippo Costantini, chargé de recherche sous contrat CNRS-Philiumm
Humanité digitale & Typographie
- Vincent Buard, chercheur indépendant (humanité digitale et web design)
- Vincent Giovannangeli, ingénieur de recherche sous contract ERC
- Andreas Stötzner, hercheur indépendant (typographie)
- Maria Laura Cucciniello, ingénieur de recherche sous contract ERC (2023-2024)
Experts Français
- Andrea Costa (Centre Jean Pépin-UMR 8230)
- Valérie Debuiche (AMU, Centre Granger-UMR 7304)
- Vincenzo De Risi (CNRS, SPHere)
- Anne Michel-Pajus (IREM, Université Paris Cité)
- Claire Schwartz (Université Paris-Ouest Nanterre)
- Simon Gentil (Phd, SPHERE-UMR 7219)
- Emmylou Haffner (ITEM, ENS, Paris)
Experts internationaux
- Richard Arthur (Mc Master University, Canada)
- Javier Echeverria (Universidad del País Vasco, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)
- Jeffrey Elawani (PhD Student, University Mac Master/University Paris Cité)
- Emily Grosholz (Penn State University, USA)
- Michael Kempe (Leibniz-Archiv Hanover)
- Toni Malet (Université Pompeu Fabra/SPHERE)
- Arnaud Pelletier (ULB, Belgium)
- Siegmund Probst (Leibniz-Archiv Hanover)
- Elisabeth Rinner (Leibniz-Archiv Hanover)
The Mathesis Workshop started in 2017 as part of the ANR Mathesis is now continuing its work as part of the Erc PHILIUMM project since September 2021.
PORGRAM 2023-2024
Mercredi, 13 septembre 2023, à 14h en salle 870 bâtiment Olympe de Gouges Université Paris Cité 8 Rue Albert Einstein.
David Rabouin (SPHERE, ERC Philiumm)
"Can one be a modal structuralist and a Platonist at the same time?"
Monday, October 16, 2023from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm room 628 Olympe de Gouges building Université Paris Cité 8 Rue Albert Einstein.
Conference: Intensive magnitudes in Leibniz and before
Wednesday, October 25, 2023at 2:00 p.m. in Salle Mondrian 646A, Bâtiment Condorcet Université Paris-Cité 4 rue Elsa Morante Paris 75013
- Florian Vermeiren (KU Leuven)
“Leibnizian Relations : Individual, Perspectival and Real”
- Filippo Constantini (Marie Curie Fellowship, Venise/Mc Master)
« The Continuum : from Hellman & Shapiro to Leibniz »
November 6 to 7, 2023
Colloque d’hommage à Eberhard Knobloch à l’occasion de ses 80 ans (en collaboration avec le séminaire Histoire et Philosophie des Mathématiques).
Download program here
Wednesday, November 8, 2023at 10:00 a.m. in Mondrian Room 646A, Condorcet Building Université Paris-Cité 4 rue Elsa Morante Paris 75013
- Arilès Remaki (SPHERE, ERC Philiumm), joint work with Maria Rosa Massa Esteve
"Euler's Beta function in Leibniz: what consequences and origins? - Respondent: Siegmund Probst (Leibniz Archiv, Hannover)
Wednesday, November 15, 2023 at 2:00 pm in room 569 (5th floor) Olympes de Gouges building Université Paris Cité 8 Rue Albert Einstein Paris 7501.
- Joao Cortese - University of São Paulo Brazil
Read Letters of A. Dettonville by Blaise Pascal - Respondent : Thomas Bellon - Aix Marseille University
Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. in room 575F of the Halle Aux Farines building Université Paris Cité 9, 15 esplanade Pierre Vidal-Naquet 75013 Paris
Autorisation to conduct research - Claire Schwartz
26 Janvier 2024
Journée d’étude « Malebranche, le cercle malebranchiste et les sciences ».
Download program here
31 janvier 2024
David Rabouin (CNRS, SPHERE, ERC Philiumm) : « De Leibniz à la théorie homotopique des types et retour »
March 13, 2024
Vincent Giovanangelli (ERC Philiumm), Présentation des premiers résultats du projet en HTR (Handwritten text recognition)
11 avril 2024
Journée d’étude : « Les mathématiques du jeune Descartes : nouveaux documents, nouvelles approches ».
Download program here
11 juin, Salle 628 (bat. Olympe de Gouges) et par zoom
10h-12h
François Duchesneau (Univ. de Montréal), « Pensées leibniziennes sur l'acoustique : à la recherche d'un modèle explicatif »
13h30-15h30
Richard Arthur (Univ. Mc Master), « Deriving the Laws of Motion from Abstract Principles: A Newly Transcribed Leibnizian Manuscript »
27-28 juin
Séance de formation interne avec des présentations de Arilès Remaki (TikZ), Vincent Giovanangelli (e-scriptorium), Maria Laura Cuciniello (Transcript, Eman) et Simon Gentil (Metafont)
International symposium "Leibniz à Paris : 1672-2022"December 5 to 7, 2022, at IEA Paris
The PHILIUMM project is partnering with The Society for Leibnizian Studies in the French Language and the Sodalitas Leibnitiana (Italy) to organize this event, born from the desire to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the young Leibniz's arrival in the French capital.
The 18 papers presented by our speakers will focus on the many texts written by Leibniz during his time in Paris, as well as the influence of the intellectual milieu he came into contact with during his stay.
Forty-six years after the major international symposium held in Chantilly (November 14-18, 1976) to mark the 300th anniversary of Leibniz's departure from France, this new initiative aims to update the intellectual assessment of the German philosopher's Parisian period, in the light of the continuing evolution of Leibnizian studies, as well as the progress made in our knowledge of his work, made possible by the many unpublished texts now made available by the constant progress of the various publishing undertakings of his corpus.