Space Conceived by the Eighteenth Century Europeans

Research Project

Project/Area Number	59490020
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	広領域
Research Institution	Kyoto University
Principal Investigator	HIGUCHI Kinichi The Research Institute for Humanistic Studies, Kyoto University, 人文科学研究所, 教授 (80027523)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	JINNO Takashi The Research Institute for Humanistic Studies, Kyoto University, 人文科学研究所, 助手 (90162825) ASADA Akira The Research Institute for Humanistic Studies, Kyoto University, 人文科学研究所, 助手 (90151026) TOMINAGA Shigeki The Research Institute for Humanistic Studies, Kyoto University, 人文科学研究所, 助教授 (30145213) SAKAGAMI Takashi The Research Institute for Humanistic Studies, Kyoto University, 人文科学研究所, 助教授 (70047166) YAMADA Keiji The Research Institute for Humanistic Studies, Kyoto University, 人文科学研究所, 教授 (10027542)
Project Period (FY)	1984 – 1985
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1985)
Budget Amount *help	¥5,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,100,000) Fiscal Year 1985: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000) Fiscal Year 1984: ¥4,600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,600,000)
Keywords	Conception of space / History of the eighteenth century thought / システム
Research Abstract	While the Renaissance is the age of intricate harmony and 19th century is the age of infinite growth, the 17th and 18th centuries are the age of static systems spread out in open space. Through the investigations of 18th century Europeans' conception of space in various aspects ( natural, social and symbolic ), this interdisciplinary research project has brought into relief the episteme of that age. 1-(1) In the 17th century, space is conceived as unitary and homogeneous, but in the 18th century, it becomes manifold and heterogeneous. The former is represented by Newton's space, the latter by Dideot's. (2) In the 17th century, system is conceived as a rigid structure which externally combines its elements, but in the 18th century, it is replaced by a network of internal relations found between various elements. The former if represented by Descartes' system, the latter by Montesquieu's. (3) Those transformations are decisive for the formation of the modern world view, because for the first time they make it possible to take into account the concrete variety of the world. We can no longer regard the 17th century as the decisive moment for the modernization and the 18th century only as its idle follower. 2-(1) The space in the 18th century, however, is in a highly unstable equilibrium. Since the end of the century, it is involved into the spiral movement along time. (2) At that turning point, we find the "explosion of space" exemplified by Napoleon's empire or by the megalomaniac architecture of the "visionaries". It is after the extreme expansion that the space goes into the temporal movement.