Huygens-Descartes Lecture
25 november 2015, 15:30 - 18:00
Mapping the miracle: empirical approaches in the Exodus debate of the 18th century.
Eighth Huygens-Descartes Lecture by Renate Dürr
The Huygens-Descartes Lecture will discuss the work of the Jesuit Jean-Claude Sicard (1677-1726), provincial leader of the Jesuits in Cairo and missionary of the Copts in Egypt. Commissioned by the French Regency, Sicard travelled Egypt extensively to produce the first reliable maps of both contemporary and ancient Egypt. In the process, he discovered amongst others the ruins of Thebes and the Great Labyrinth, and was the first to describe, measure and sketch many ancient sites.
One particular question that occupied Sicard is that of the Old Testament’s Exodus account. Especially after Spinoza’s discussion of the miracle of the Red Sea and Pierre Bayle’s critical reactions, the story of the Israelites’ Crossing became a litmus test for the Old Testament in the eighteenth century, regardless of whether one aimed to confirm or challenge the credibility of biblical texts. Whereas this debate has been interpreted as mostly a Protestant affair in literature until now, the Huygens-Descartes lecture will focus on the Jesuits’ impact on the debate – an impact that was grounded on their experience in situ and their penchant for empirical verification.
By focusing on empiricism in Historical Critical Biblicism, the Huygens-Descartes lecture takes an unconventional path in talking about the Exodus debate within the European Republic of Letters in the 18th century. Since the empirical knowledge that played such a vital role in the debate came from Egypt, Renate Dürr will discuss the ways of gathering and transferring knowledge from abroad to Europe, the importance of the publishing houses in the process of recreating this information and the Jesuits’ impact on the Early Enlightenment.
About this year’s speaker
Renate Dürr is professor of Early Modern History at the University of Tübingen, and is especially interested in religious, cultural and intellectual history. She is currently working on Jesuit missions, specifically on the German missionary journal ‘Der Neue Welt=Bott’ as a conduit of ‘global’ knowledge with direct impact on the European Enlightenment, about which she is preparing a book co-authored by prof Ulrike Strasser (University of San Diego).
About the Huygens-Descartes Lecture
The annual Huygens-Descartes lecture in the History of Science is a joint initiative of Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities (Utrecht University) and Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences). Previous speakers include Harold Cook (Brown), Pamela Smith (Columbia), John Pickstone (Manchester), and Paula Findlen (Stanford).
Time and Place
Gehoorzaal, Teylers Museum, 25 November 2015, 15.30 (hall open from 15.00 hrs onwards). After the lecture, visitors may enjoy a drinks reception. Attendance is free to everyone; no registration is necessary. The lecture and subsequent discussion are to be held in English.