Partenaires

logo Sphere
CNRS
Logo Université Paris-Diderot Logo Université Paris1-Panthéon-Sorbonne


Search

On this website

On the whole CNRS Web


Home > Members > Members Webpages > VERMEIR Koen

VERMEIR Koen



Chargé de Recherche – CNRS, SPHERE, Laboratoire
de Philosophie et Histoire des Sciences, UMR 7219


Contact



Follow me on Academia.edu


View Koen Vermeir's LinkedIn profileView Koen Vermeir’s profile



Koen Vermeir is a Research Professor (CR1) at the CNRS. A theoretical physicist turned historian and philosopher of science, he is currently interested in scientific modernity, epistemic values, the future of science in society and the science-policy nexus. He is active in the science-policy nexus, working as an expert or advisor with the European Commission, the USA National Academy of Sciences, the G7 Academies, the United Nations and other national and international organizations. As Co-Chair of the Global Young Academy, Koen strives for a more inclusive science ecosystem and aims to empower young scientists globally. Koen is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Centaurus: an international journal of the history of science and its cultural aspects, and he is on the on the Executive Council of the European Society for the History of Science.

For his science advice and science policy work, see his GYA website and several GYA news items:
https://globalyoungacademy.net/koen-vermeir/
https://globalyoungacademy.net/?s=vermeir&submit=Search

The page below describes my work in history and philosophy of science

His historical interests are in the history of the early modern imagination and in the interaction between religion and technology. Additionally, he works on historiographical and methodological topics and on science policy.

After studies in theoretical physics, philosophy and history of science, in Leuven, Utrecht and Cambridge, he held research positions at the Fund of Scientific Research-Flanders, the Max-Planck-Institute for the History of Science, Harvard University, and Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies. Vermeir was visiting fellow at Cambridge University and Cornell University, and visiting professor at the ETH Zürich.

Vermeir is founder of and responsible for the research unit Histoire culturelle et interdisciplinaire des techniques (SPHERE); co-responsible for the research unit Recherches interdisciplinaires en histoire et philosophe des sciences (SPHERE); and former founding director of LIPSS, a science studies platform at the University of Leuven (Belgium). He is currently member of the editorial board of the journal Journal for Early Modern Studies, the journal Society and Politics and the journal Artefact: Histoire & techniques, and the book series Studies in History and Philosophy of Science and International Archives of the History of Ideas. His work has been published in six different languages.


Research themes and Publications

  1. The Power of Imagination
  2. History of Technology
  3. Theoretical, methodological and historiographical work
  4. History of art and aesthetics

Organisation of scientific events

Conference presentations




RESEARCH THEMES AND PUBLICATIONS




-  1. The Power of Imagination


Projects:

– Personal Project: The History of the Powers of Imagination in the Early Modern Period

– Director of « Imaginations. Une histoire épistémologique de la force créatrice de l’imagination (16e-18e siècle) », PEPS project, l’Institut des Sciences de la Communication CNRS, 2010-2012.


Publications:

  • K. Vermeir (2014) ‘Guérir ceux qui ont la foi. Le mesmérisme et l’imagination historique’ in B. Belhoste and N. Edelman (ed.) Le Mesmérisme en Contexte. Paris: Sorbonne University Press.
  • K. Vermeir (eds.) (2012) The Science of Sensibility. Reading Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry. International Archives of the History of Ideas. New York: Springer (with M. Deckard).
  • K. Vermeir (eds.) (2012) Malebranche et l’imagination puissante. Special Issue for Rivista di Storia della Filosofia (4). (With R. Carbone) [link]
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Vampires as “creatures of the imagination” in the Early Modern Period’ in Y. Haskell (ed.) Diseases of the Imagination and Imaginary Disease in the Early Modern Period. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers. 341-373. (ISBN 978-2-503-52796-3). [link] [preprint]
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Preface: Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry in context, 250 years later’ in The Science of Sensibility. Reading Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry. International Archives of the History of Ideas. New York: Springer Publishers (with M. Deckard), v–xx. (ISBN 987-94-007-2101-2)
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Malebranche et les pouvoirs de l’imagination’ in Rivista di Storia della Filosofia. (With R. Carbone), 67(4), 661-669. [link]
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Castelli in aria: immaginazione e Spirito della Natura in Henry More’ in LoSguardo, 10 (3), 99-122.
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Idols of the Imagination: Francis Bacon on the Imagination and the Medicine of the Mind’ in Perspectives on Science, 20 (2), 183-206. (With S. Corneanu) [Link] [Preprint]
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Guérir ceux qui ont la foi. Le mesmérisme et l’imagination historique’ in B. Belhoste and N. Edelman (ed.) Le Mesmérisme en Contexte. Paris: Sorbonne University Press.
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Enquiries into the Science of Sensibility’ in The Science of Sensibility. Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry in Context. Reading Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry. International Archives of the History of Ideas. New York: Springer Publishers (with M. Deckard), 3-56 (ISBN 987-94-007-2101-2). [Link] [Preprint]
  • Vermeir, K. (2010) ‘Vampirisme, corps mastiquants et la force de l’imagination : Analyse des premiers traités sur les vampires (1659-1755)’ in Camenae, 12 (numéro sur la Fantaisie sous la dir. de C. Pigné) (ISSN 2102-5541) [link free article]
  • Vermeir, K., (2008) ‘Robocop Dissected: man-machine and the mind-body problem in the Enlightenment’ in Technology and Culture, 49, 1036-1044. [link]
  • Vermeir, K., (2008) ‘Imagination between Physick and Philosophy’ in Intellectual History Review, 18 (1), 119-137. [link] [preprint]
  • Vermeir, K., (2006) ‘The imagination as medium - on the history of creativity, madness and the arts’ in T. Hensel, H.U. Reck, S. Reither and S. Zielinski (eds.) Immer wieder weiter. Lab – Jahrbuch für Künste und Apparate. Cologne: W. König. 109-125.
  • Vermeir, K., (2005) ‘The ‘Physical Prophet’ and the Powers of the Imagination. Part II. A case-study on dowsing and the naturalisation of the moral (1685-1710)’ in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 36C (1), 1-24. [link] [preprint]
  • Vermeir, K. (2004) ‘The ‘Physical Prophet’ and the Powers of the Imagination. Part I. A case-study on prophecy, vapours and the imagination (1685-1710)’ in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 35C (4), 561-591. [link] [preprint]
  • Vermeir, K., (2004) ‘Gekke Dichters. Een historisch filosofisch essay over verbeelding, waanzin en creativiteit’ [Mad Poets. An historical-philosophical essay on imagination, madness and creativity] in Deus ex Machina, 28 (108), 75-81.




-  2. History of Technology


Projects:

– Personal Project: “Theology and Technology”: The Interaction between Technical and Religious Practices and Ideas in the Early Modern Period.

– Co-director of : « La société du spectacle. La fête baroque entre Italie et anciens Pays-Bas (1585-1685) » ACADEMIA BELGICA – IHBR – FNPMJ, ROME académie, 2011-2014.


Publications:

  • Vermeir, K. (forthcoming 2014) ‘Die Wiederherstellung von Pluto. Theatralität in frühneuzeitlichen alchemistischen Praxis’ in H. Schramm, L. Schwarte and M. Lorber (eds.) Spuren der Avantgarde: Theatrum alchemicum. Berlin: De Gruyter.
  • Vermeir, K. (2014) ’Varieties of Wonder. John Wilkins’ mathematical magic and the perpetuity of invention’ in Historia Mathematica, 41 (4) (ISSN: 0315-0860) (with Maarten Van Dyck).
  • Vermeir, K. (2014) ‘Tout dépend des circonstances. Superstition, lois de la nature et dissolution du préternaturel au tournant du XVIIIe siècle’ in Olivier Christin, Fabrice Flückiger, and Naima Ghermani (eds.), Marie mondialisée: penser le surnaturel à l’époque moderne. Neuchâtel: Alphil.
  • Vermeir, K. (2013) ‘Mechanical Philosophy in an Enchanted World. Cartesian Empiricism in Balthasar Bekker’s Radical Reformation’ in Mihnea Dobre and Tammy Nyden (eds.) Cartesian Empiricisms. New York: Springer, 275-306.
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Mise en image du spectacle et spectacularisation de l’image à l’âge baroque’ in Degrés. Revue de synthèse à orientation sémiologique, 40 (151), c1-c14 (with Ralph Dekoninck, Maarten Delbeke, Annick Delfosse)
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Optical Instruments in the Service of God: Light metaphors for the circulation of Jesuit knowledge in China’ in Roca-Rosell, A. (ed.). The Circulation of Science and Technology: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of the ESHS. Barcelona: SCHCT-IEC, p. 333-337.
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘“Bent and Directed towards Him”. Kircher’s sunflower clock seen from a baroque perspective’ in O. Gal and C. Raz (eds.) Baroque Science. International Archives of the History of Ideas. New York: Springer.
  • Vermeir, K. (2011) ‘Circulating Knowledge or Superstition?’ The Dutch Debate on Divination (1696-1717)’ in S. Dupré and C. Lüthy (eds.) Silent Messengers. Knowledge Affairs in the Early Modern Low Countries. Berlin/Zürich/Vienna: LIT Verlag. 293-328 (ISBN 978-3-8258-1635-3) [link] [preprint]
  • Vermeir, K. (2010) ‘The markets and design’ in Design Mass, Onomatopee 36, 67-86. (ISBN 9-789078-454540)
  • Vermeir, K. (2010) ‘Notes on design and technological determinism’ in Design Mass, Onomatopee 36, 87-98. (ISBN 9-789078-454540)
  • Vermeir, K. (2010) ‘Impossible instruments and technological determinism’ in Design Mass, Onomatopee 36, 99-110. (ISBN 9-789078-454540)
  • Vermeir, K. (2009) ‘Wonder, Magic and Natural Philosophy. The disenchantment thesis revisited.’ in M. Deckard and P. Losonczi (eds.) Philosophy Begins in Wonder. Eugene: Wipf and Stock. 43-71.
  • Vermeir, K. (2008) ‘Robocop Dissected: man-machine and the mind-body problem in the Enlightenment’ in Technology and Culture, 49, 1036-1044.
  • Vermeir, K., (2007) ‘Athanasius Kircher’s Magical Instruments: An Essay on Science, Religion and Applied Metaphysics’ in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, 38 (2), 363-400.
  • Vermeir, K. (2006) ‘The Reality of Failure. On the interpretation of success and failure in (the history and philosophy of) science and technology’ in S. Zielinski and D. Link (eds.) Variantology II. On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences and Technologies. Cologne: Walter König. 335 - 360. (ISBN10: 3-86560-050-6; ISBN13: 978-3-86560-050-9)
  • Vermeir, K. (2005) ‘The Magic of the Magic Lantern (1660-1700). On Analogical Demonstration and the Visualisation of the Invisible’ in The British Journal for the History of Science, 38 (2), 127-159.
  • Vermeir, K. (2005) ‘The Hidden History of the Cyborg. A Historio-Philosophical Essay on the Magic of Technology’ in S. Zielinski and S. Wagnermaier (eds.) Variantology I. On deep time relations of arts, sciences and technologies. Cologne: W. König. 223-246. (ISBN: 3-88375-914-7)
  • Vermeir, K. (2004) ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall... on the aesthetics and metaphysics of 17th-century scientific/artistic spectacles’ in Kritische Berichte, Zeitschrift für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften, 32 (2), 27-38.
  • Vermeir, K. (2003) ‘Kircher’s Magic Lantern Reconsidered’ in J. Frow (ed.) Visual Knowledges. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1-7. (ISBN 0 9532713 3 1).
  • Vermeir, K. (2002) ‘Van alchemist tot gentleman: empirie in de wetenschappen’ [From the Alchemist to the Gentleman: Empiricism in the Sciences] in R. Bartsch (ed.) Filosofie & Empirie. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam. 77-91.
  • Vermeir, K. (2001) ‘De moeizame verhouding van filosofie en ICT’ [The Difficult Relationship between Philosophy and ICT] in Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte, 92 (2), 146-149. (with T. Reydon).




-  3. Theoretical, methodological and historiographical work



Projects:

– PI: ‘Historical Epistemology and the circulation of knowledge: a case-study in scientific imagination’, Flemish Research Foundation, 2008-2011.

– PI: ‘Philosophy of Science as Historical Epistemology’, Flemish Research Foundation, 2005-2008.


Publications:

  • Vermeir, K. (2014) ‘Tout dépend des circonstances. Superstition, lois de la nature et dissolution du préternaturel au tournant du XVIIIe siècle’ in Olivier Christin, Fabrice Flückiger, and Naima Ghermani (eds.), Marie mondialisée: penser le surnaturel à l’époque moderne. Neuchâtel: Alphil.
  • Vermeir, K. (2013) ‘Scientific Research: Commodities or Commons?’ in Science & Education, 22 (10), 2485-2510 [INT1] (e-publication August 2012)
  • Vermeir, K. (2013) ‘Philosophy and Genealogy. Ways of writing the history of philosophy’ in Mogens Lærke, Eric Schliesser, and Justin E. H. Smith (eds.), Philosophy and Its History: New Essays on the Methods and Aims of Research in the History of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 50-70.
  • Vermeir, K. (eds.) (2012) States of Secrecy. From Alchemy to the Atomic Bomb. Special Issue of British Journal for the History of Science. (With D. Margocsy)
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘The Dustbin of the Republic of Letters. Pierre Bayle’s “Dictionaire” as an encyclopedic palimpsest of errors’ in The Journal of Early Modern Studies, 1 (1), 109-149
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘States of Secrecy’ in British Journal for the History of Science, 45 (2), 153-164. (With D. Margocsy)
  • Vermeir, Koen. (2012) ‘Scientific Research: Commodities or Commons?’ Science & Education, 21. [Link] [Preprint]
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Openness versus Secrecy? Some historical and conceptual issues’ in British Journal for the History of Science, 45 (2), 165-188.
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘“Bent and Directed towards Him”. Kircher’s sunflower clock seen from a baroque perspective’ in O. Gal and C. Raz (eds.) Baroque Science. International Archives of the History of Ideas. New York: Springer. 37-65.
  • Vermeir, K. (2011) ‘Waren oder Wahrheit? Wissenschaftliche Forschung als Ökonomie des Schenkens’ in Ch. Krijnen, Ch. Lorenz, J. Umlauf (eds.) Wahrheit oder Gewinn?: Über die Ökonomisierung von Universität und Wissenschaft. Königshausen & Neumann. 133-157.
  • Vermeir, K. (2010) ’Objectiviteit: een historische epistemologie’ [‘Objectivity: A Historical Epistemology] in Karakter, 27 (3), 16-8;
  • Vermeir, K. (2010) ‘Historical Epistemology’ in The Reasoner. 4 (1), 10-12. [W]
  • Vermeir, K. (2009) ‘Wonder, Magic and Natural Philosophy. The disenchantment thesis revisited.’ in M. Deckard and P. Losonczi (eds.) Philosophy Begins in Wonder. Eugene: Wipf and Stock. 43-71.
  • Vermeir, K. (2009) ‘We zijn uit het oog verloren wat ons drijft om aan wetenschap te doen: interview met Steven Shapin’ Campuskrant 27/05/2009, p. 9.
  • Vermeir, K. (2009) ‘Manager of Universitas? Wetenschappen in de laatmoderne maatschappij.’ [‘Manager or Universitas? The sciences in the late-modern society’] In Karakter. Tijdschrift voor Wetenschap, 26, 25-27 (ISSN 1379-0390).
  • Vermeir, K. (2009) ‘De familie der wetenschappen. Van een wittgensteiniaanse naar een procedurele analyse van het demarcatieprobleem’ [‘The Family of Sciences. ‘A Wittgensteinean Analysis of the Demarcation Problem’] in Tijdschrift voor Filosofie, 71, 119-145.
  • Vermeir, K. (2007) ‘Doubt in the Evolution / Intelligent Design Controversy’ (34 pp.), co-author of an expert report (Harvard University), together with Wen Bu, Matthew Hegreness, Nan Ni and Lukas Rieppel, and directed by Peter Galison, Martha Minow. Published as Part II of the Report Scientific and Legal Doubt at http://manufacturingdoubt.com/,
  • Vermeir, K. (2007) ‘Science on Trial’ in Preprints in Analytic Philosophy, 9, 1-23.
  • Vermeir, K. (2006) ‘The Reality of Failure. On the interpretation of success and failure in (the history and philosophy of) science and technology’ in S. Zielinski and D. Link (eds.) Variantology II. On Deep Time Relations of Arts, Sciences and Technologies. Cologne: Walter König. 335 - 360.
  • Vermeir, K. (2006) ‘A demarkációs probléma felelevenítése’ [‘The Demarcation Problem Revisited’] (trans. Koronczay Dávid and Zelei Borbála) in Replika - Social Science Quarterly, nr. 54-55, 125-156. (ISSN: 0865-8188).
  • Vermeir, K. (2005) ‘Magical Science or Scientific Magic?’ in Education Forum, 46, 3-5.
  • Vermeir, K. (2005) ‘Magical Science or Scientific Magic? Rationality & Irrationality and the Magic & Science debate from a Historical and Philosophical Perspective’ in EASST Review, 24 (2/3), 15-17.
  • Vermeir, K. (2005) ‘De grenzen van de wetenschap’ [The fringes of Science] in Filosofie Magazine, nr. 6, 59. Interview with Johan van de Werken.
  • Vermeir, K. (2005) Magical Science or Scientific Magic? The Magic and Science debate from a Historical and Philosophical Perspective. University of Leuven. (401 p.)




-  4. History of art and aesthetics

Publications:

  • K. Vermeir (eds.) (2012) The Science of Sensibility. Reading Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry. International Archives of the History of Ideas. New York: Springer (with M. Deckard). [Link]
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘The Culture of Immortality: science, immortality and the good life.’ In Residence Magazine. The European Biennial of Contemporary Art: Manifesta 9, Spring 2012, 80-81 (ISBN 9789081914703).
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Preface: Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry in context, 250 years later’ in The Science of Sensibility. Reading Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry. International Archives of the History of Ideas. New York: Springer Publishers (with M. Deckard), v–xx. (ISBN 987-94-007-2101-2)
  • Vermeir, K. (2012) ‘Enquiries into the Science of Sensibility’ in The Science of Sensibility. Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry in Context. Reading Edmund Burke’s Philosophical Enquiry. International Archives of the History of Ideas. New York: Springer Publishers (with M. Deckard), 3-56 (ISBN 987-94-007-2101-2).
  • K. Vermeir (eds.) (2011) Spelende Geesten. Essays over Kunst en Wetenschap. [Playing Minds. Essays on Art and Science]. Double special issue of Deus ex Machina. Nr. 137, June 2011. (161 p).
  • Vermeir, K. (2010) ‘The markets and design’ in Design Mass, Onomatopee 36, 67-86. (ISBN 9-789078-454540)
  • Vermeir, K. (2010) ‘Notes on design and technological determinism’ in Design Mass, Onomatopee 36, 87-98. (ISBN 9-789078-454540)
  • Vermeir, K. (2010) ‘Impossible instruments and technological determinism’ in Design Mass, Onomatopee 36, 99-110. (ISBN 9-789078-454540)
  • K. Vermeir (eds.) (2006) De nieuwe politieke dimensie van de kunsten. Jaarboek voor Esthetica 2005. [The New Political Dimension of the Arts. Annual of Aesthetics 2005. Netherlands: Damon publishers. ISBN: 905573683x (with S. Leyssen, K. Vandeputte, B. Vandenabeele). (169 p.)
  • Vermeir, K. (2006) ‘The imagination as medium - on the history of creativity, madness and the arts’ in T. Hensel, H.U. Reck, S. Reither and S. Zielinski (eds.) Immer wieder weiter. Lab – Jahrbuch für Künste und Apparate. Cologne: W. König. 109-125.
  • Vermeir, K. (2006) ‘Kunst, en haar nieuwe flirts met ‘het politieke’’ [‘Art, and its new flirts with ‘the political’’] in DWB, 151 (2), 305-320.
  • Vermeir, K. (2006) ‘Een nieuwe dimensie voor kunst en politiek?’ [A New Dimension for Art and Politics?] in S. Leyssen, K. Vandeputte, B. Vandenabeele and K. Vermeir (eds.) De nieuwe politieke dimensie van de kunsten. Budel: Damon. 5-24.
  • K. Vermeir (eds.) (2004) Transgressie in de Kunst. Jaarboek voor Esthetica 2004. [Transgression in Art. Annual of Aesthetics 2004]. Netherlands: Damon publishers. ISBN: 90 5573 576 0 (with B. Vandenabeele).
  • Vermeir, K. (2004) ‘Kunst, transgressie en de grenzen van de tijd-ruimte’ [Art, Transgression and the Limits of Space-Time] in B. Vandenabeele and K. Vermeir (eds.) Transgressie in de Kunst. Budel: Damon. (with B. Vandenabeele). 5-10.
  • Vermeir, K. (2004) ‘Gekke Dichters. Een historisch filosofisch essay over verbeelding, waanzin en creativiteit’ [Mad Poets. An historical-philosophical essay on imagination, madness and creativity] in Deus ex Machina, 28 (108), 75-81. [Flemish Fund for Literature]
  • Vermeir, K. (2004) ‘De Film en zijn Museum. Over de esthetiek van het verleden’ [Film and its Museum. On the Aesthetics of the Past] in B. Vandenabeele and K. Vermeir (eds.) Transgressie in de Kunst. Budel: Damon. (with S. Leyssen). 46-62.
  • K. Vermeir (eds.) (2003) Gemedieerde Zintuiglijkheid. Jaarboek voor Esthetica 2003. [Mediated Perceptions. Annual of Aesthetics 2003]. Netherlands: Damon publishers. ISBN: 90 5573 407 1 (with B. Vandenabeele).
  • Vermeir, K. (2003) ‘Kijken naar de sterren… Een wetenschapshistorische analyse van gemedieerde zintuiglijkheid’ [Looking at the Stars… An Analysis of Mediated Perceptions from the Perspective of History of Science] in B. Vandenabeele and K. Vermeir (eds.) (2003) Gemedieerde Zintuiglijkheid. Budel: Damon. 113-128.
  • Vermeir, K. (2003) ‘Gemedieerde zintuiglijkheid in ‘esthetisch’ perspectief’ [Mediated Sensibility in an ‘Aesthetic’ Perspective] in B. Vandenabeele and K. Vermeir (eds.) (2003) Gemedieerde Zintuiglijkheid. Budel: Damon. 7-12. (with B. Vandenabeele).




ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC EVENTS




Organisation of International Conferences

  • 2012: International Conference: Spaces, Knots and Bonds: At the crossroads between early modern “magic” and “science”. 21-23 June 2012. Organised by Koen Vermeir and Jonathan Regier. With support of ANR PNEUMA.
  • 2010: International conference « The Power of Imagination in the 16th-18th centuries », Versailles/ISCC Paris, 6-8 December 2010. (26 speakers). With the support of L’institut des Sciences de la Communication du CNRS, projet PEPS « Imaginations » et du Centre de recherche du château de Versailles
  • 2009: Organizer of an international conference, ‘Historical Epistemology’, Leuven University, 10-12 December 2009 (together with Ursula Klein).
  • 2009: Organizer of a conference (with Viet Nguyen): ‘Economies of Art in an Entrepreneurial Society’, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, 2 June 2009.
  • 2009: Organizer of an international conference ‘States of Secrecy. On the history of secrecy in science and natural philosophy’, Harvard University, 11 April 2009 (together with Daniel Margocsy and Alex Wellerstein).
  • 2007: Organizer of a 2 day international conference on ‘The Science of Sensibility’, Leuven University, 17-18 December 2007 (together with Michael Funk Deckard).



Organisation of International Workshop Series

  • 2010-2011: International workshop series « The Powers of Imagination », supported by the PEPS grant ISCC. (6 workshops in Oxford and Paris)
  • 2010-12: International workshop series: « Machines et imaginations », SPHERE, (with Pierre Cassou-Nogues, Viktoria Tkaczyk) (7 workshops in Paris)
  • 2010-11: International workshop series: « Histoire des sciences, histoire du texte », SPHERE. (3 workshops in Paris)



Organisation of International Workshop Workshops, Symposia and Seminars

  • 9 International workshops in Paris, Brussels, Leuven, Harvard and Rome.
  • 4 International Symposia in Nancy, Bucharest, Vancouver and Halifax.
  • 6 seminars (lecture series) in Paris and Leuven.



Organizing Committee of International Conferences




CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS




-  List of presentations

[1] * ’Doubt and the limits of science’ for a conference at the École normale supérieure - Paris, 2-3 December 2013.

[2] * ’The Wonders of Mathematics - Mathematical Magic as a Mechanical and Institutional Tool in Early Modern England’ for Historical Perspectives on Mathematics as a Tool. ZiF Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung, Universität Bielefeld, 13-15 November 2013.

[3] * ’Scientific Practices and Controversies’ for The Role of Controversies and Collaborations in the Emergence of Modern Philosophy and Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, 31 October – 1 November 2013.

[4] ° ’The Invention of Culture in the Early Modern Period’ for Artefacts Culture and Identity; conference of the International Society for Cultural History, Istanbul 11-14 September 2013.

[5] * ’The power of demonic imagination’ for the workshop Early Modern Approaches to the Imagination, Institute of Advanced Study, University of Warwick, Warwick, 17 July 2013

[6] * ’Concluding Remarks’, for the workshop Récit et expérience de la fête au premier âge moderne, Bruxelles, Palais des Académies, 24 mai 2013.

[7] * ’Spectacle baroque : cadre, expérience, illusion’ for the workshop Récit et expérience de la fête au premier âge moderne, Bruxelles, Palais des Académies, 24 mai 2013 (with Annick Delfosse, Ralph Dekoninck, Maarten Delbeke).

[8] * ’John Wilkins’ mathematical experiments and the perpetuity of discovery’, conference: Experiments and arts of discovery, Bucharest, 12-14 May 2013.

[9] *‘La force de l’imagination sur l’autrui (XVIIème siècle)’, séminaire Pouvoirs de l’imagination. Approches historiques, EHESS/CNRS, Paris, 12 April 2013.

[10] * ’Deus in Machina: History and Methodology’, for the conference Deus in Machina: Machines, Theatre and Religion in Early Modern Europe, Academia Belgica, Rome, 15-16 March 2013 (with Maarten Delbeke and Viktoria Tkaczyk)

[11] * ‘L’imagination entre naturel et préternaturel au XVIIème siècle’, séminaire Psychologie, psychiatrie, psychanalyse: histoires croisées, EHESS, Paris, 15 February 2013.

[12] * ‘The mesmeric imagination revised’, for Debates, Polemics and Controversies in Early Modern Philosophy (European Society for Early Modern Philosophy: 3rd International Conference), Grenoble, 30 January – 2 February 2013.

[13] * ’Art, technologie et nature à l’âge classique’, séminaire La technologie, science humaine, EHESS/CNRS, Paris, 20 December 2012.

[14] * ’La force de l’imagination: enjeux historiques’, séminaire Pouvoirs de l’imagination. Approches historiques, Paris, 9 November 2012.

[15] * ’Early modern imagination: between nature and praeternature’, for the ESF concluding conference Image, Imagination and Cognition Early Modern Theory and Practice, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study, Wassenaar, 31 October – 2 November 2012.

[16] * ’Performativity in HPS’. Seminar Research methods in HPS, Gent University, 17 October 2012.

[17] * ‘Francis Bacon’s natural history of the imagination’, for The Poetics and Epistemology of Natural Historical Descriptions in Early Modern French Texts, Newnham College, Cambridge, 8-9 September 2012.

[18] * ‘Early modern space: place, imagination, distance’, international conference Spaces, Knots and Bonds, 21 June 2012.

[19] * ‘Early Modern Vampirism as disease of the imagination’, The Demonic Seminar, Oriel College, Oxford, 31 May 2012.

[20] * ‘Imagination and sympathy in Bacon’s Sylva Silvarum’, Princeton University, 17 May 2012.

[21] * ‘La culture du spectacle baroque. Enjeux historiographiques et épistémologiques’, Colloque Image et spectacle, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 3-5 mai 2012.

[22] * ‘L’imagination et le pouvoir sur autrui chez Francis Bacon’ for the conference Imagination, coutume, rapports de pouvoir (XVIe-XVIIIe siècles) Université Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne, 7 April 2012.

[23] * ‘Lord of the Light’, séminaire « Machines et Imagination », SPHERE, Paris, 16 March 2012.

[24] * ‘Styles et pratiques: une analyse stylistique de l’horloge héliotropique d’Athanase Kircher’, séminaire « pratiques », SPHERE, Paris, 23 November 2011.

[25] * ‘Naturel et surnaturel dans les pratiques divinatoires du XVIIe siècle’, for the conference Penser le surnaturel à l’époque moderne, MSH-Alpes, CRHIPA Université de Grenoble II, Grenoble, 18 November 2011.

[26] * ‘Genealogy and the history of philosophy’, for Philosophy and Its History: A Workshop on Methods, Aims, and New Directions in the Scholarship of Early Modern Philosophy, Concordia University Montreal, 29-30 October 2011.

[27] * ‘Reconstruction and re-enactment in the history of science and technology’ for Le spectacle baroque dans les anciens Pays-Bas. Etat des lieux historiographiques et méthodologiques, Bruxelles, 14 October 2011.

[28] ° ‘Style concepts in historical epistemology’ for the symposium A plurality of currents in today’s historical epistemologies at the 14th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, Nancy, July 19-26 2011.

[29] * Keynote speaker, ‘The magician’s imagination in Francis Bacon’ (with Sorana Corneanu), Collaborative aspects of Early Modern Thought: Philosophical Correspondence and the Republic of Letters, Princeton-Bucharest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Bran, 2– 8 July 2011.

[30] * ‘Circulating knowledge or superstition? The Dutch Debate on Divination (1696-1717)’ for the workshop Circulating and Connecting Knowledge in Early Modern Europe (1450-1850), Columbia University/Paris1, Reid Hall 27-28 June 2011.

[31] * ‘Divining Cultures. Epistemological and national cultures of divination’, Cultures of Knowledge II, Les Treilles, 20-25 June 2011.

[32] * Commentary on ‘Sameness and difference: Methodological reflections on the cultural history of physics in modern Japan’by Kenji Ito, Cultures of Knowledge II, Les Treilles, 20-25 June 2011.

[33] * Commentary on ‘On mathematical Style’ by David Rabouin, Cultures of Knowledge II, Les Treilles, 20-25 June 2011.

[34] * ‘Commentary: images of the machine-man’, workshop Machines et Imagination, SPHERE, 1 June 2011.

[35] * ‘Francis Bacon on the Authority of Imagination’, for the workshop Experiential and propositional imagination: early modern perspectives, Helsinki, 24 May 2011.

[36] * ‘The Creative Imagination’ for The aesthetic Imagination, MFO Oxford, 9 May 2011.

[37] * ‘Rereading the book of nature. Genre and interpretation in 17C natural theology’ for The Arts of Interpretation - Interpreting Nature in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. An International Colloquium in honour of Fernand Hallyn. University of Oxford, 29-30 April 2011.

[38] * ‘Relire le livre de la nature. Genre et interprétation dans la théologie naturelle du 17e’, for the workshop Sur les traces de Dieu : la théologie naturelle à l’âge classique, SPHERE, Paris, 26 April 2011.

[39] * ‘History of Science, Culture of Spectacle and the Baroque: new perspectives’ for « Culture du Spectacle Baroque. Culture du spectacle baroque dans les Pays-Bas espagnols du xviie siecle. » Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Bruxelles, 28 March 2011.

[40] * ‘Mesmerism and the power of imagination’, Seminaris d’Història de la Ciència 2010-2011, Barcelona, 17 March 2011.

[41] * ‘The politics of identity. Early modern knowledge cultures in the Southern Netherlands.’ Commentary on ‘Science at Court’ by Geert Vanpaemel and René Vermeir; ‘Little Tools of Orthodoxy. Embattled Authority and the Practice of Academic Privilege’ by Bruno Boute; ‘China in the Spanish Netherlands: Belgian Jesuits in the Production and Circulation of Knowledge about Ming-Qing China’ by Ronnie Po Chia Hsia; ‘Bodily Performances of Knowledge: The Mechanical and Liberal Arts in the public sphere (1568-1713)’ by Arjan van Dixhoorn and Bert De Munck, for the conference Embattled territory. The circulation of knowledge in the Spanish Netherlands, Gent, 9-11 March 2011.

[42] * ‘Openness versus Secrecy: Some Historical and Conceptual Issues’ for the Seminar Historical Epistemology, SPHERE, Paris, 2 March 2011.

[43] * ‘Knowledge and imagination: an introduction’ Imagination et savoir, Oxford, 28 February 2011.

[44] * ‘Imagination and sociability’ Sociabilité, Communication et Imagination à l’Age Classique, Institut des Sciences de la Communication du CNRS, Paris, 7 February 2011.

[45] * ‘Art and the history and philosophy of science,’ Sint-Lucas School of Visual Arts, Gent, 18 January 2011.

[46] * ‘Vampires and the powers of imagination’, La force de l’imagination, au XVIe au XVIIIe siècle, Versailles/ISCC, Paris, 6-8 December 2010.

[47] * ‘The power of imagination in the early modern period: introduction’, La force de l’imagination, au XVIe au XVIIIe siècle, Versailles/ISCC, Paris, 6-8 December 2010.

[48] *° ‘Circulating optical instruments in the service of God (1600-1700)’, invited as part of a symposium on Within Europe and beyond Europe: the Jesuits as circulators of science, as part of the 4th International Conference of the European Society for the History of Science, Barcelona, 18-20 November 2010.

[49] * ‘Spirit and imagination in the early modern period: an introduction’, Power of spirit and imagination in the 17th century, Maison Française d’Oxford, Oxford, 19 October 2010.

[50] * ‘Science as a gift’, International Conference Humboldt’s Model. The Future of Universities in the World of Research. Humboldt-Universität Berlin. 7-9 October 2010.

[51] * ‘Referaat: De toekomst van wetenschapsstudies in België en Nederland’, international workshop “Wetenschapsstudies in de Lage Landen: Een state of the art”, LIPSS, Leuven, 5 October 2010.

[52] * ‘Francis Bacon on the powers of imagination’, Imagination chez Montaigne et Bacon, ISCC, Paris, 20 September 2010.

[53] * ‘The force of imagination: an introduction’ PEPS exploratory workshop, ISCC, Paris, 6 September 2010.

[54] * ‘The realities, affordances and meanings of research objects in action’ invited speaker for The Efficacy of Images, Eikones summer school, Basel, 22-27 August 2010.

[55] ° ‘Vampires and the powers of imagination: a study of the first medical tracts on vampirism (1659-1755)’ The British Society for the History of Science Annual Conference. Aberdeen, 22-24 July 2010.

[56] * ‘Are there limits to mechanism? Balthasar Bekker and Dutch Cartesianism’, 2010 Bucharest-Princeton Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Bran, 30 June - 7 July 2010.

[57] * ‘Occult Sciences: Historical and Historiographical Questions’, Questioning “Occult Sciences”, SPHERE, Paris, 16 June 2010.

[58] * Keynote talk ‘Henry More (and Newton) on space, atoms and spirit’ Bucharest graduate conference in early modern philosophy, Bucharest, 21-22 May 2010.

[59] * ‘Francis Bacon on the powers of imagination’, Francis Bacon and the Medicine of the Mind: Stoic Protestantism in Late Renaissance England, European Research Council conference, New Europe College, Bucharest, 13-15 May 2010.

[60] * ‘Beatific experiments: Imagining God through instruments in the 17th Century’, IMACHINATIONS, SPHERE, Paris, 14 April 2010.

[61] * ‘Henry More (and Newton) on space, atoms and spirit’, The Philosophy of Henry More: Space, Life, Spirit, Maison Française d’Oxford, Oxford, 12 March 2010.

[62] * ‘Le Dictionnaire de Bayle comme “apalimpseste”’ [Bayle’s Dictionary as an “apalimpsest”], History of Encyclopaedia Workshop, SPHERE, CNRS, Paris, 28 January 2010.

[63] * ‘Challenging “challenging objects”’, Workshop Challenging Objects, Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin, 21–23 January 2010.

[64] * ‘Introduction: reflections on historical epistemology’, international conference Historical Epistemology, Leuven University, 10-12 December 2009.

[65] ° ‘“Commodities” or “commons” in Science?’ Humboldt-Kolloquium Wahrheit oder Gewinn? Über die Ökonomisierung von Universität und Wissenschaft, Amsterdam, 26-27 November 2009.

[66] * ‘Technologie, théologie et l’imagination scientifique’ [Technology, theology and the scientific imagination], Réunion SPHERE, CNRS, Paris, 17 November 2009.

[67] * ‘Openness and Secrecy: historical and historiographical reflections’, Colloquium Geschichte des Wissens, ETH Zürich, 13 October 2009.

[68] ° ‘Vampires as creatures of the imagination in Early Modern Europe’ 2009 Bucharest-Princeton Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Bran, 25 July - 31 July 2009.

[69] *‘Le mesmérisme et la philosophie de l’imagination’ [Mesmerism and the philosophy of imagination], for the conference Le mesmérisme en contexte: nouveaux regards sur un mouvement pluriel (1770-1840), Paris I Sorbonne, 18-19 June 2009.

[70] * ‘Imagination and healing in the early modern period’, for Healing Ritual and Placebo, Harvard Medical School, 28 May 2009.

[71] * Panel presentation and discussion, ‘A sense of Taste. Taste and smell in the seventeenth century.’ For Tasty Philosophers, Smelly Scientists. Taste and smell in the early modern period and beyond, Harvard University, 18 May 2009.

[72] * Participation in the workshop Bacon and Scientific Utopianism, Princeton University, 20 April – 20 May 2009.

[73] * ‘The History of the Powers of Imagination’ Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Symposium, Harvard University, 22 April 2009.

[74] * Research presentation ‘Theologie et Technologie. L’interaction entre des pratiques techniques et religieuses pendant la periode moderne.’ Centre de Recherches Historiques, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Paris. 16 April 2009.

[75] * ‘Openness versus Secrecy. Some historical and conceptual issues’ for States of Secrecy. On the history of secrecy in science and natural philosophy, Harvard University, 11 April 2009.

[76] * ‘On the Divine Magnet. Magnetic theology in the seventeenth century.’ Early Science Working Group, Department of the History of Science, Harvard University, 5 February 2009.

[77] * ‘The circulation of invisible knowledges: dowsing at the turn of 18th century’, for the invisible knowledges seminar, Paris I Sorbonne, 21 November 2008.

[78] ° ‘Circulating the Golden Flower’ paper for the 2008 HSS and PSA Joint Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA., 6-9 November 2008.

[79] * ‘Limitless mechanism: Bekker and Dutch Cartesianism on science and superstition’, workshop on “Empiricism and Mechanical Philosophy”, Leiden University, 31 October 2008.

[80] * ‘Epistemic paradoxes’, research presentation, Ghent University, 6 October 2008.

[81] ° ‘Inverse Perception. The active imagination in Renaissance philosophy of mind’, presentation for the Eikones summer school, section 2 ‘Eidola. Vom Sehen zum Wissen’, Basel, 1-6 September 2008.

[82] * ‘Magnetic Philosophy and Magnetic Theology’ 2008 Bucharest-Princeton Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Mãlîncrav Manor, 28 July - 3 August 2008.

[83] *‘Imagination, styles and circulation’, for the conference on Styles and cultures of scientific practice, La foundation des Treilles, 16-21 June 2008 (org. Evelyn Fox Keller, MIT and Karine Chemla, CNRS).

[84] * ‘Artefacts in Philosophy’, research presentation, Eindhoven University, 10 June 2008.

[85] * ‘Historical Ontology or Epistemology?’ Commentary on Ursula Klein’s ‘History and Philosophy: A Historical Ontology of Materials’ NFWT conference, Dutch Network for Philosophy of Science and Technology, Maastricht, 17-18 April 2008.

[86] *‘Henry More on Spirit and Space’, for a conference organised by M. Van Dyck and K. Verelst, Space and Time in the Seventeenth Century, Ghent/Brussels 7-8 April 2008.

[87] *‘Magnetic Theology as a Baroque Phenomenon’, for the Baroque Science Workshop, University of Sydney, 16 February 2008.

[88] *‘Law and Order in 17th century philosophy: commentary on Dror Wahrman’, commentary presented for the Baroque Science Workshop, University of Sydney, 16 February 2008.

[89] *‘La culture matérielle de la magie mathématique.’ [The material culture of Mathematical Magic] for the History of Mathematics Workshop, REHSEIS, CNRS, Paris, 14 January 2008.

[90] *‘Circulating Knowledge or Superstition?’ for the workshop Political and scientific networks among towns in towns in England, France and the Southern Low Countries, ca 1580-1700, Université Libre de Bruxelles. 16-17 November 2007.

[91] °‘Action at a distance and the circulation of knowledge in the late 17th century’, for Knowledge at a Distance, 2nd workshop of the Scientific Research Network Circulation Knowledge in Early Modern Science, Leuven, 15-16 November 2007.

[92] °‘Rethinking the Demarcation Problem’ conference paper for Rethinking Popper, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague. 10-14 September 2007.

[93] °‘The Meaning and Reality of Scientific Instruments’ for the XXVI Symposium of the Scientific Instrument Commission, Harvard University, MIT and the Scientific Instrument Commission, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 6-11 September 2007.

[94] °‘Ceteris Paribus and the Circulation of Knowledge. Divination, the Body and Experimental Science at the turn of the Eighteenth Century’ for the conference Travelling Knowledge, Wellcome Trust Centre, University College London. 21-23 June 2007.

[95] *invited expert for the workshop of the NanoSoc project (Nanotechnologies for tomorrow’s society), Antwerp University. 15-16 February, 2007.

[96] *‘Divination and the circulation of contested knowledge claims (1690-1720)’, Early Science Working Group, Department of the History of Science, Harvard University. 6 December 2006.

[97] °‘Divination and the circulation of contested knowledge claims (1690-1720)’ conference paper for the HSS 2006 Annual Meeting. History of Science Society, Vancouver. 2-5 November 2006.

[98] *Research Presentation, Centre of Philosophy of Science, 8 December 2005, University of Leuven.

[99] *‘Variantology and the poetics of failure. New approaches in the history and philosophy of media and technology’, Second International Workshop for Variantology, University of Cologne, 1-3 December 2005.

[100] *‘Divination and sociability in seventeenth-century Paris’, paper for the conference Sciences, capitales et sociabilité: Paris et Londres à l’époque moderne. Maison Française d’Oxford, 4-5 November 2005.

[101] *‘The Resurrection of the Demarcation Problem’, paper presented in the reading group ‘fringes and demarcation’ at the Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin, 13 July 2005.

[102] *‘Commentary on Bernhard Kleeberg’s ‘The Will to Meaning. 19th Century Theological Reactions to Darwinism in Germany’, Colloquium Dept. II, Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin, 30 June 2005.

[103] *‘Floating Concepts and the Circulation of Knowledge’, research presentation at the workshop The circulation of knowledge: The Low Countries as a regional laboratory, Woudschoten (Netherlands), 27-28 May 2005.

[104] * ‘The Resurrection of the Demarcation Problem’, invited speaker at a conference organised by the Belgian Society for Logic and Philosophy of Science. 21 – 22 May 2005. Institute of Philosophy, University of Leuven.

[105] *‘Divination and the powers of the imagination in the late Seventeenth-century’, invited speaker for the EMPHASIS seminar. 2 April 2005. School of Advanced Study, University of London.

[106] *‘Assertion and Knowledge Attributions’ paper read for the seminar Images of Science, Institute of Philosophy, University of Leuven, 18 March 2005.

[107] °‘The assertory nature of knowledge’, paper for the conference Rational Believing and Knowledge, Free University Amsterdam, 2-5 February 2005.

[108] *‘The Fate of the Lantern. Commentary on Iwan Morus’ “Concealing Art”’, commentary presented at the Summer Academy Science on Screen, Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin, 17-26 August 2004 (with M. Mills).

[109] °‘Openness and Secrecy in Transmitting “Magical Knowledge”’, paper for the Circulating Knowledge conference, Fifth British-North American Joint Meeting of the British Society for the History of Science, the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science, and the History of Science Society, Halifax, 5-7 August 2004.

[110] *‘Mirror, mirror on the wall...’, History of Science Workshop, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University. 26 May 2004.

[111] *‘Continuity and discontinuity in the sciences’, philosophy of science workshop, Centre for Logic, Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Language, University of Leuven. 3 March 2004.

[112] *‘The metaphysics of “magical instruments”’, invited speaker, workshop, Centre for History of Science, University of Ghent, 11 January 2004.

[113] °‘Vapours and the imagination’, conference paper for the 2004 British Society for the History of Science Postgraduate Conference. 6-9 January 2004. British Society for the History of Science, Manchester University.

[114] °‘Visualizing the invisible: instruments/illustrations/texts’, conference paper for the HSS 2003 Annual Meeting. 20-23 November 2003. History of Science Society, Cambridge (Mass.).

[115] °‘Kircher’s Magic Lantern Reconsidered’, conference paper for Visual Knowledges. 17-20 September 2003. Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, University of Edinburgh.

[116] °‘The Hidden History of the Cyborg’, conference paper for the 11th Quadrennial ISECS Conference. 3-10 August 2003. International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA).

[117] °‘The History of Magic and Phantasmagoria’, conference paper for the 11th Quadrennial ISECS Conference. 3-10 August 2003. International Society for Eighteenth Century Studies, University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA).

[118] °‘The porous body and the “scientific affect”’ conference paper for Sensing Affect: The Physiology and Philosophy of feeling, 1688-1840. 2 May 2003. Faculty of English, Cambridge University.

[119] °‘Van alchemist tot gentleman’, conference paper for Filosofie & Empirie. 2 november 2002. Department of Philosophy, University of Amsterdam.

[120] °‘Kijken naar de sterren’, conference paper for Gemedieerde Zintuiglijkheid. 4-5 oktober 2002. Dutch Society for Aesthetics, University of Maastricht.

[121] °‘Nietzsches vrouwmetafoor als kritiek op virtualiteit’, conference paper for Filosofie en ICT. 4 november 2000. Department of Philosophy, University of Leiden.