Research on history of energy concept focused on France from Renaissance to classicism

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H06297
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: History of thought
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: KAWAMURA Fumie 慶應義塾大学, 商学部(日吉), 講師 (40759867)
• Research Collaborator: LOJKINE Stéphane エクス・マルセイユ大学, 文学部, 教授 ; JAUME Lucien フランス国立科学研究センター, 名誉教授
• Project Period (FY): 2015-08-28 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: エネルギー / 自然神学 / 理神論 / 唯物論 / モンペリエ医学派 / ジャコバン派 / 共和主義 / 恐怖政治

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of my research is to resolve the division between humanities and natural sciences commonly accepted in the traditional history of energy concept. First, from the latter half of the seventeenth century to the eighteenth century, by pointing out differences in the process of introducing the word “energy” into natural sciences in England and France, I successfully combined the differences with arguments made at the time about the active principle of nature's inherent power. Secondly, comparing the usage of the word “energy” found in the vital principle theory affirmed by the medical school of Montpellier, which prospered in France in the latter half of the eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century, and that widely used in political speeches of contemporary revolutionaries, my research clarified that both usages show radical power, which cannot be explained by rationality, and thus have some sort of parallel.

Free Research Field

思想史