Associate Prof. Dr. Matjaž Vesel devotes his research to the history of philosophy, especially medieval, renaissance and early modern philosophy, as well as the history and philosophy of science and historical epistemology. His research interests include the classical philosophical problems of medieval philosophy, such as the question of free will presupposing divine foreknowledge; the fundamental ontological questions of Being and being; the problem of universalities; and Neo-Platonism in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Modern Age. The main part of his scientific research work is devoted to investigating the epistemological rupture between ancient episteme and modern science and the relationship between science, philosophy and theology in the period leading up to and throughout the Scientific Revolution. In this context, he examines the works of Nicholas of Cusa, Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Rene Descartes, Isaac Newton and other authors, who provide a direct or indirect context for understanding the texts of the aforementioned thinkers. He has published more than 150 different papers both at home and abroad, including five monographs, and has participated in numerous international conferences, symposia and scientific gatherings.
Articles
Newtonova kritika Descartesovega pojmovanja gibanja (Newton's Critique of Descartes' Conception of Motion), Filozofski vestnik, 2021, letn. 42, št. 3, str. 27–151.
Before Copernicus and Copernicus, Aestimatio, 2020, letn. 1, str. 71-111.
Newton, nedosegljivo bistvo teles, teološki voluntarizem in zakoni narave (Newton, the Elusive Essence of Bodies, Theological Voluntarism and the Laws of Nature), Filozofski vestnik, 2020, letn. 41, št. 3, str. 81-107.
(Copernican) experiences and the (Copernican) Bible in Galileo's Letter to Castelli,Teorie vědy = Theory of Science, 2015, letn. 37, št. 2, str. 123-158.
Descartes o gibanju v Svetu (Descartes on motion in the World), Filozofski vestnik, 2018, letn. 39, št. 1, str. 7–34.
Monographs and chapters in monographs
Kopernikanski manifest Galilea Galileija (Galileo Galilei's Copernican Manifest: Genesis of the Dialogue of the two Chief World Systems; Notes and Commentaries to the Dialogue of the Two Chief World Systems), Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2009.
Nebeške novice Galilea Galileija (Galileo Galilei's Heavenly News). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2007.
Astronom-filozof: Nikolaj Kopernik, gibanje Zemlje in kopernikanska revolucija (Astronomer-Philosopher: Nicholas Copernicus, the Movement of the Earth and 'Copernican revolution'), Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2007.
Učena nevednost Nikolaja Kuzanskega: Kuzanski in konstitucija univerzuma moderne znanosti (The Learned Ignorance of Nicholas Cusanus: Cusanus and the Constitution of the Universe of Modern Science). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2000.
Copernicus: Platonist Astronomer-Philosopher: Cosmic Order, the movement of the Earth, and the Scientific Revolution, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2014.
Descartesovi Principi filozofije: kaj je gibanje. V: René Descartes, Principi filozofije, prvi in drugi del (Descartes' Principles of Philosophy: What is Motion. In René Descartes, Principles of Philosophy, Parts One and Two), Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2023, str. 173–258.
'Newton's genesis': a thought experiment on the creation of 'bodies' and its epistemological consequences, v: Philosophical imagination: Thought Experiments and Arguments in Antiquity. Ur. Boris Vezjak. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021, str. 147-170.
Translation Work
Translations of Short Texts
Gemin, Povzetek Pozejdonijeve Razprave o nebesnih telesih (ohranjeni odlomek); (Gemin, Summary of Poseidonius' Treatise on Celestial Bodies (extant fragment)), Filozofski vestnik, letn. 29, št. 1 (2008), str. 148–152.
Klavdij Ptolemaj, Almagest, prva knjiga, poglavja 1-8 (Claudius Ptolemy, Almagest, first book, chapters 1-8), Filozofski vestnik, letn. 29, št. 1 (2008), str. 153–174.
Christopher Clavius, Komentar Sacroboscove Sfere (odlomek iz 4. poglavja); (Christopher Clavius, Commentary on the Sphere of Sacrobosco (excerpt from chapter 4)), Filozofski vestnik, letn. 29, št. 1 (2008), str. 175–182.
Johannes Kepler, Skrivnost sveta (Mysterium Cosmographicum), 1. poglavje (Johannes Kepler, Mystery of the World (Mysterium Cosmographicum), Chapter 1), Filozofski vestnik, letn. 29, št. 1 (2008), str. 183–195.
Johannes Kepler, Zagovor Tycha proti Ursu, 1. poglavje (Johannes Kepler, The Defence of Tycho against Ursus, chapter 1), Filozofski vestnik, letn. 29, št. 1 (2008), str. 197 – 215.
Roberto Bellarmino, Pismo Antoniu Foscariniju (12. april 1615); (Roberto Bellarmino, Letter to Antonio Foscarini (12 April 1615)), Filozofski vestnik, letn. 29, št. 1 (2008), str. 217 – 221.
Galileo Galilei, Razmišljanja o kopernikanskem mnenju (Galileo Galilei, Reflections on the Copernican View), Filozofski vestnik, letn. 29, št. 1 (2008), str. 223–241.
Galileo Galilei, Roberto Bellarmino in drugi, Izbrana pisma in dokumenti (1613-1616); (Galileo Galilei, Roberto Bellarmino and others, Selected Letters and Documents (1613-1616)), Filozofski vestnik, letn. 36, št. 1 (2015), str. 85–161.
Translations of Books
G. Galilei, Dialog o dveh glavnih sistemih sveta, ptolemajskem in kopernikanskem (G. Galilei, Dialogue on the Two Main Systems of the World, Ptolemaic and Copernican), 2009.
G. Galilei, Zvezdni glasnik, dvojezična, latinsko-slovenska izdaja (G. Galilei, The Starry Messenger, bilingual, Latin-Slovenian edition), in M. Vesel, The Celestial News of Galileo Galilei, pp. 82-175; Galilei's Selected Letters, pp. 221–305, 2007.
Johannes Kepler, Razgovor z Zvezdnim glasnikom (Johannes Kepler, Conversing with the Starry Messenger), in M. Vesel, Celestial News of Galileo Galilei, pp. 177-220, 2007.
Alain de Libéra, Srednjeveška filozofija (Alain de Libéra, Medieval Philosophy), Maribor: Aristej, 2007.
A. Koyré, Znanstvena revolucija (”Alexandre Koyré and the 'Scientific Revolution'”, in: Koyré, A., Scientific Revolution: Selected Papers from the History of Scientific and Philosophical Thought), Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2006.
Aristotel, O nebu (Aristotle, On the Heavens), Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2004.
Editorial Work
Copernicus and the Philosophy of Copernican Revolutions. Special Issue, Filozofski vestnik, 2004, letn. 25, št. 2.
Europe as a Philosophical Idea and Political Subject (fundamental research project • May 1, 2017 - April 30, 2020)
The Structure of the Void (fundamental research project • July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2014)
Conditions and Problems of Contemporary Philosophy IV (research programme • January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2025)
Conditions and Problems of Contemporary Philosophy III (research programme • January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2019)
Conceptualizing the End: its Temporality, Dialectics, and Affective Dimension (fundamental research project • October 1, 2022 - September 30, 2025)
Education
1999– Doctorate in Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, "The Learned Ignorance of Nikolai Kuzanski in the Light of Theoretical Psychoanalysis", supervisors: Prof. Dr. Slavoj Žižek and Prof. Dr. Valentin Kalan.
1995– Master's degree in Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, "Philosophy and Theology in High Scholasticism : a commentary on De ente et essentia by Thomas Aquinas", supervisor: Prof. Dr. Valentin Kalan.
1995– Master's degree in Medieval Studies, nostrification of a degree from the University of the State of New York, New York.
1994– Master's degree in Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest (Hungary), Department of Medieval Studies, "Being, Essence and esse in the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas", supervisor: Prof. Dr. Gyorgy Laszlo Gereby.
1990– Bachelor's degree in Philosophy, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts, "The Problem of the Eternity of the World in Thomas Aquinas", supervisor: Prof. Dr. Valentin Kalan.
Employment and titles
1990–1995: Young Researcher, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana.
1995–, Institute of Philosophy, ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana.
2011–, Principal Research Associate, Institute of Philosophy, ZRC SAZU, Ljubljana.
Fellowships
2012–2013, Department of the History of Science in History of Science Collections University of Oklahoma Libraries, University of Oklahoma, Norman.
2009–2010, Department of the History of Science in History of Science Collections University of Oklahoma Libraries, University of Oklahoma, Norman.
2005, Bibliothéque Nationale de France, Pariz.
2004, Université Paris 7 - Denis Diderot in Bibliothèque nationale de France, Pariz (auditeur libre).
2002, Université Paris 7 - Denis Diderot in Bibliothèque nationale de France, Pariz (auditeur libre).
1999, École pratique des hautes etudes in Sorbonne IV, Pariz (auditeur libre).
1998, Staatsbibliothek, Berlin.
1997, All Souls Colledge, Oxford.
1993–1994, Central European University, Departement of Medieval Studies, Budimpešta.
Editorial Work
2014–, Member of the editorial board of the Czech Philosophical Journal Pro-Fil.
2001– Collection Editor Historia scientiae, ZRC Publishing.
2004–2010, Filozofski vestnik, Main Editor.
1999–, Filozofski vestnik.
Teaching Engagements
2014–, Postgraduate School ZRC SAZU, module “Transformation of Modern Thought - Philosophy, Psychoanalysis, Culture” at the postgraduate programme “Comparative Study of Ideas and Cultures”, course “Philosophy and the Scientific Revolution”.
2004-2014, University of Nova Gorica, " Comparative Studies of Ideas and Cultures", course "Conceptual Genesis of the Modern World".
1999-2005, University of Maribor, Faculty of Education (now Faculty of Arts), course "Medieval Philosophy".
Occasional guest lecturer at several universities in Slovenia (University of Ljubljana; Graduate School "Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis", Ljubljana; University of Maribor) and abroad (University of West Bohemia, Pilsen; University of Oklahoma, Norman; Charles University, Prague; University of Bucharest; University of Fribourg; University Ca' Foscari, Venice.
Prizes, awards, scholarships, fellowships
Scholarships
– University of Oklahoma, Norman (2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013).
– Oxford University, All Souls (1997).
– Central European University, Budapest (1993–1994).
Awards
– The Golden Sign of ZRC SAZU, 2007, Ljubljana - for a distinguished PhD thesis, Ljubljana (1999) - for the doctoral dissertation "The Learned Ignorance of Nikolai Kuzansky in the Light of Theoretical Psychoanalysis". VIDEO
Selected lectures and conference papers
Lectures
The nature of Copernicusʼs hypotheses. Invited lecture in the context of the interactive seminar "ERC EarlyModernCosmology", Università Ca' Foscari, Dipartimento di Filosofia e Beni Culturali, Venice, 6 May 2020.
Newtonʼs genesis. Invited lecture at the Chair of Philosophy and History of Science (Katedra filosofie a dějin přírodních věd), Charles University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Prague, 13 May 2019.
Copernicus: Platonist astronomer-philosopher. Invited lecture at CELFIS seminar, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Bucharest, 14 December 2016.
Galileo Galilei as a peripatetic: necessary demonstrations, demonstrative regress and the Moon like the second Earth. Invited lecture at IRH-ICUB, Research Institute of the University of Bucharest (ICUB), Bucharest, 15 December 2016.
Galileo Galilei, "necessary demonstrations" and the Moon like another Earth. Invited lecture at the seminar (Chair of Philosophy and History of Natural Sciences), Charles University, Faculty of Science, 11 November 2016.
Conference papers
How did Copernicus become a Copernican. Paper presented at the Copernicus and Italy conference, Rome, 28 September 2023.
Copernicus: Platonist Astronomer-philosopher. Paper presented at the World Copernican Congress, Olsztyn, 22 June 2023.
Ontološki status gibanja v Principih filozofije. (Ontological Status of Movement in the Principles of Philosophy). Paper presented at the Colloquium "Descartes: metoda, metafizika, fizika" (Descartes: method, metaphysics, physics), Ljubljana, 29 March 2023.
Galileo Galileiʼs necessary demonstrations. Paper presented at the conference Proof in natural philosophy, between antiquity and the early modern period, Prague, 21 May 2022.
Copernicus: experience and reasoning in the argumentation in favour of the Earthʹs rest and in favour of its motion. Paper presented at the conference Experience and Reasoning in Scientific Methodology Between Antiquity and the Early Modern Period, Prague, 10 May 2019.
Membership in national and international associations
1999–, Slovenian Philosophical Society
1999–, Society for Cultural Studies