Postdoc Position in History of Mathematics, Logic and Philosophy: Medieval and Renaissance; Girolamo Cardano

1. Introduction

Are you a researcher passionate about the history of philosophy and mathematics? Do you have a keen interest in Girolamo Cardano and late medieval philosophy? We are seeking a postdoctoral researcher to contribute to a groundbreaking project on Cardano’s views on impossibility and imaginability, their medieval sources, and their impact on early modern mathematics.

2. Job description

The project titled 'Cardano, the Impossible, and the medievals' aims to assess Girolamo Cardano’s philosophical views on impossibility and imaginability, their late medieval sources, and their influence on both Cardano’s mathematical works and the early-modern debates on complex numbers.   

You will be expected to address three open questions concerning: 

• The role that Cardano’s philosophical reflections on impossibility and imagination had in shaping his use and conceptualisation of ’sophistical’ or ’impossible’ numbers, through a global intertextual study of Cardano’s opus. 
• Cardano’s late medieval sources and the role they played for developing those reflections and mathematical conceptualisations. 
• The measure in which Cardano’s philosophical background, through his terminological choices and usage, influenced the early-modern and modern disputes concerning complex numbers. For instance, while Descartes' successful use of the derogatory term ’imaginary’ for such numbers has an obvious assonance with the vocabulary of imaginabilia, there does not seem to be a direct connection between the two occurrences, despite these terms' shared rooting within the vocabulary of impossibility in a diachronic perspective. Comparing the vocabulary employed in a selection of authors (Bombelli, Viète,Harriot, and Girard) up to Descartes, could help to assess whether there is a mediated connection between the ’imaginable’ and the ’imaginary’. 

This is a three-year research position (0.9 FTE) without teaching obligations.

3. Profile

• You hold a PhD in the history of philosophy, history of mathematics, or a related field.
• You have a strong background in late medieval and Renaissance philosophy, with expertise both in the history of logic and in the works of Girolamo Cardano.
• You have proven familiarity with the history of late medieval and Renaissance mathematics.
• You possess excellent skills in textual analysis and doctrinal interpretation, particularly in the context of historical philosophical and mathematical texts.
• You have experience with interdisciplinary research, combining philosophy, history and mathematics.
• You have a proven track record of academic publications.
• You have a good command of English, both written and spoken. 
• Knowledge of Latin is required. 
• Reading knowledge of other languages relevant for directly accessing primary sources and secondary literature (e.g. Italian, French, German) is an advantage.

4. We are

This project is part of the i2 (The Impossible and the Imaginable: Late Medieval Semantics of Impossibility and the Roots of Complex Mathematics) research team, led by Dr Graziana Ciola (Principal Investigator). The i2 project explores the historical and philosophical dimensions of impossibility and imagination in the interaction between logical semantics and complex mathematics at the crucial juncture between the later Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The project is interdisciplinary, combining insights from the history of philosophy, mathematics and science to understand how concepts of impossibility and imagination shaped the rise of modern mathematical thinking.

The i2 team (two PhD candidates and a postdoctoral researcher) is based at the Center for the History of Philosophy and Science (CHPS). CHPS is a world-leading research institute that brings historians of philosophy and historians of science together in a single research group. CHPS studies philosophy and science as historically intertwined fields from Antiquity to the 20th century. 

5. We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract of three years. 
• Your salary within salary scale 11 depends on your previous education and number of years of (relevant) work experience. The amounts in the scale are based on a 38-hour working week.
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus. 
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20. 

6. Practical information and applying

You can apply only via the button below. Address your letter of application to Graziana Ciola. In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application.

The first interviews will take place on Thursday 24 April. You will preferably start your employment as soon as possible.

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