CfP: Why and How Do We Study Early Modern Philosophy Today? (Special Issue)

Special Issue of History of Philosophy and Logical Analysis 30.2 (2027)
Guest Editors: Laura Georgescu (University of Groningen) and Martin Lenz (FernUniversität in Hagen)

This special issue invites contributions that examine contemporary approaches to the study of early modern philosophy and reflect on the aims and methods that guide current scholarship. We welcome contributions on any text, topic, or figure of the period, provided that the paper explicitly highlights the aims or methods it employs.

We particularly encourage submissions that

1. use a case study to illustrate a distinctive methodological or interpretive approach, or
2. directly address debates concerning aims or methods in the field.

Possible questions include, but are not limited to:

• How should we theorize and clarify the relationship between historical and rational reconstructions?
• Which aims and criteria guide our decisions about including marginalized figures and traditions in the early modern canon?
• How do digital humanities tools reshape the study of early modern philosophy?
• Do traditional assumptions about contextualization, textual analysis, or intellectual genealogies still hold?

These themes do not need to be the exclusive focus of a paper; rather, they serve as an invitation to reflect on the methodological or interpretive commitments underlying your study.

Submissions

Articles up to 10,000 words can be submitted via https://www.editorialmanager.com/hpla/ until August 31, 2026 and will be processed on a rolling basis. Accepted publications can be published early in online first mode.

Pre-Submission Inquiries

If you are unsure whether your contribution fits the issue, you may submit an abstract of 500–1000 words by January 31, 2026 to the guest editors:

• martin.lenz@fernuni-hagen.de
• l.georgescu@rug.nl

We look forward to receiving your contributions.