History of Facts : A Reexamination of 18th Century French Empiricism

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K12965
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 01040:History of thought-related
• Research Institution: Josai University (2020-2021); Hitotsubashi University (2019)
• Principal Investigator: FUCHIDA Masashi 城西大学, 現代政策学部, 助教 (00770554)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 啓蒙思想 / 事実 / エビデンス / 歴史記述 / 科学史

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examined the concept of "fact" in the 18th century, focusing on Rousseau and Condillac. The purpose of this study was to reexamine the historical view of the history of ideas as a naive progression from empiricist philosophy to scientific positivism, but it turned out that the contemporary post-truth situation can be confirmed in the 18th century. In particular, it was found in religious and literary issues.

Free Research Field

思想史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

事実をめぐる議論は、歴史修正主義や現代のエビデンス主義の隆盛という形で今日のポスト・トゥルース状況を形成する一要因となっている。そもそも事実が歴史的・思想的・社会的にどのように位置づけられてきたのかを検討することは非常に重要である。以上が本研究の社会的意義である。