Oberto MARRAMA

Oberto Marrama

Area of Specialization:

History of early modern philosophy; history of philosophy of mind.

Areas of Competence:

Philosophy of mind; history of early modern science; metaphysics; history of political philosophy; political philosophy; moral philosophy; philosophy of language.

Current Positions:

2023 – present:   Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Italy.

2021 – present:   Postdoctoral researcher, University of Oulu, Faculty of Humanities, Finland.

Past Academic Appointments:

2019 – 2020:   Postdoctoral researcher and teaching fellow, Bar-Ilan University, Department of General Philosophy, Israel.

Winter 2017:   Teaching fellow (chargé de cours), Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Département de philosophie et des arts, Canada.

2014 – 2016:   Research assistant, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Département de philosophie et des arts, Canada.

Education:

2014 – 2019:   PhD in philosophy (joint doctorate), cum Laude / mention “Exceptionnel”, University of Groningen, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of the History of Philosophy, Netherlands / Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Département de philosophie et des arts, Canada.

2013 – 2015:   MLitt by Research in philosophy, with Distinction, University of Aberdeen, School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, United Kingdom.

2009 – 2012:   Master’s degree in philosophy, con lode, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Faculty of Philosophy, Italy.

2003 – 2008:   Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, con lode, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Faculty of Philosophy, Italy.

Funding Record (total income: ca. €286,000):

2023 – 2025:   MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship – European Fellowship, €188,590.80, European Research Executive Agency (REA), Project 101064483 – MC-EuCon: “Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) in the history of European ideas of consciousness”.

2021 – 2023:   Postdoctoral research grant, €30,000, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Finland, Grant 00210209: “Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) on consciousness and non-human mentality”.

2016 – 2018:   Bourse de doctorat en recherche pour étudiants étrangers, Can$53,333, Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC), Canada, Project title: “La conception de la conscience humaine et du rapport corps-esprit selon Spinoza”.

2015 – 2017:   Bourses aide à la diffusion, Can$7,900, Décanat des études, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada (including 5 travel grants and 2 publishing grants).

September 2014:   Bourse d’excellence à l’admission, merit scholarship for best application to the PhD program in philosophy, Can$7,000, Décanat des études, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada.

2014 – 2017:   PhD scholarship, Can$30,000, Laboratoire sur l'histoire et la pensée modernes (16e – 18e siècles), Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada. Interrupted in May 2016.

Prizes and Awards:

April 2016:   Prix du département – Section philosophie, to cover travel expenses to conferences, Can$250, Département de philosophie et des arts, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada.

April 2015:   Prix Fodar 2015, for best talk at Colloque Fodar 2015, Can$500, Département de philosophie, UQÀM, and Département de philosophie et des arts, UQTR, Canada.

Publications:

Edited Volumes and Special Issues:

The Cavendish Circle and Hobbes: Philosophical Networks in the 17th Century (ed., with Pietro Daniel Omodeo). Special issue forthcoming in Hobbes Studies (proposal accepted).

Non-Cartesian Philosophies of Mind: Early Modern Alternatives (ed., with Vili Lähteenmäki and Jani Sinokki). Edited volume forthcoming with Routledge (proposal accepted).

Cartesianism and Philosophy of Mind (ed., with Vili Lähteenmäki and Jani Sinokki). Proposal under consideration.

Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals:

“Mapping the Boundaries of Conscious Life in Margaret Cavendish’s Philosophy”. Forthcoming in Revue Philosophique de Louvain.

“‘The Habit of Virtue’: Spinoza on Reason and Memory”. Forthcoming in Journal of Early Modern Studies.

“Consciousness, Ideas of Ideas, and Animation in Spinoza’s Ethics”. British Journal for the History of Philosophy 25:3 (2017), 506-525.

“Spinoza on fictitious ideas and possible entities”. The European Legacy 21:4 (2016), 359-372.

“Language and Curiosity in Hobbes’ Philosophical Anthropology”. Science et Esprit 68:1 (2016), 71-81.

“Alexandre Koyré: The dog that is a heavenly constellation and the dog that is a barking animal (1950): Introduction and Translation”. The Leibniz Review 24 (2014), 95-108.

Chapters in Peer-Reviewed Edited Volumes:

“Animation”. Forthcoming in Spinoza Cambridge Lexicon, ed. by K. Hübner and J. Steinberg. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

“Spinoza, Baruch”. In Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, ed. by M. Sgarbi, 3099-3108. Cham: Springer, 2019. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_840-1.

Conference Proceedings:

“Conflicts of the soul and mind-body interaction in Descartes’s Passions of the Soul”. In What’s new in the New Europe? Redefining Culture, Politics, Identity, ed. by K. Kujawińska Courtney, T. Fisiak, A. Miksza, and G. Zinkiewicz, 332-353. Łódź: Łódź University Press, 2019.

Book Reviews:

Review of Naaman-Zauderer N. (ed.), Freedom, Action, and Motivation in Spinoza’s “Ethics”, New York: Routledge, 2019. “Bulletin de bibliographie spinoziste 42”, Archives de Philosophie 83:4 (2020), 198-199.

Review of Legeay V. (ed.), L’essence plastique: Aptitudes et accommodements chez Spinoza, Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne, 2018. “Bulletin de bibliographie spinoziste 41”, Archives de Philosophie 82:4 (2019), 862-863.

Review of Balaguer M., Free Will, Cambridge (MA): The MIT Press, 2014. The European Legacy 23:1-2 (2018), 204-206.

Review of Piaia G., Santinello G. (eds.), Models of the History of Philosophy, vol. III: The Second Enlightenment and the Kantian Age, Dordrecht: Springer, 2015. The European Legacy 23:1-2 (2018), 206-208.

Review of Sangiacomo A., Toto F. (eds.), Essentia actuosa: Riletture dell’“Etica” di Spinoza, Milano/Udine: Mimesis, 2016. “Bulletin de bibliographie spinoziste 39”, Archives de Philosophie 80:4 (2017), 813-814.

Review of Buyse F. (ed.), Galileo and Spinoza, special issue of Intellectual History Review 23:1 (2013). Society and Politics 11:1 (2017), 100-102.

Review of Milanese A., Principe de la philosophie chez Hobbes: L’expérience de soi et du monde, Paris: Classiques Garnier, 2011. Philosophical Enquiries: revue des philosophies anglophones 7 (2016), 155-159.

Review of Scribano E., Macchine con la mente: Fisiologia e metafisica tra Cartesio e Spinoza, Roma: Carocci, 2015. “Bulletin de bibliographie spinoziste 38”, Archives de Philosophie 79:4 (2016), 838-839.

Review of Andrault R., Lærke M., Moreau P.-F. (eds.), Spinoza/Leibniz: Rencontres, controverses, réceptions, Paris: PUPS, 2014. “Bulletin de bibliographie spinoziste 37”, Archives de Philosophie 78:4 (2015), 751-752.

Review of Sangiacomo A., L’essenza del corpo: Spinoza e la scienza delle composizioni, Hildesheim/Zürich/New York: Georg Olms Verlag, 2013. “Bulletin de bibliographie spinoziste 37”, Archives de Philosophie 78:4 (2015), 782-783.

Review of Sangiacomo A., L’essenza del corpo: Spinoza e la scienza delle composizioni, Hildesheim/Zürich/New York: Georg Olms Verlag, 2013. Journal of Early Modern Studies 3:2 (2014), 152-156.

Talks and Conference Presentations (selection):

Invited Talks:

“Sympathy and Humanity in Spinoza”, Roma Tre University, Italy (Ethics of Sympathy in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries), 25/01/2024.

“Mapping the Boundaries of Conscious Life in Margaret Cavendish’s Philosophy”, University of Helsinki, Finland (History of Philosophy Research Seminar), 24/03/2023.

“Matérialisme et panpsychisme dans le 17e siècle: le cas de Margaret Cavendish en contexte”, Université Laval, Canada (89e Congrès de l’Acfas/Congrès de la SPQ 2022), 12/05/2022.

“Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) in the History of European Ideas of Consciousness”, Paderborn University, Germany (New Voices on Women in the History of Philosophy), 04/05/2022.

“Spinoza on Recognizing Humanity”, University of Jyväskylä, Finland (JYU Philosophy Research Seminar), 27/01/2022.

“Spinoza on Human Recognition”, The Open University, Raanana, Israel (New Israeli Philosophical Association 2021 Annual Conference), 08/07/2021.

“On Spinoza’s scientia intuitiva”, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Israel (2020 Netherlands-Israel Spinoza Seminar), 24-25/05/2020. Cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“‘Una cosa a noi simile’. Menti umane e imitazione degli affetti in Spinoza”, University of Verona, Italy (Laboratorio di Gnoseologia e Metafisica), 06/04/2020. Cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“‘A Thing Like Us’: Human Minds and Deceitful Behaviour in Spinoza”, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel (Spinoza Seminar), 17/03/2020. Cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

“Coscienza, memoria e ragione nella filosofia della mente di Spinoza”, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy (workshop Cantiere Spinoza), 11/06/2019.

“Spinoza on Memory”, University of Groningen, Netherlands (6th Berlin-Groningen-Harvard-Toronto Workshop on Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy), 13/07/2017.

“Les défis de la philosophie de la connaissance de Spinoza”, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada (Journées d’étude sur la philosophie moderne), 19/02/2016.

“Spinoza’s Interpretation of Descartes’ Notion of Consciousness”, University of Aberdeen, UK (Philosophy Department PhD Seminars), 04/03/2015.

“La nozione di coscienza in Descartes e Spinoza”, Roma Tre University, Italy (first meeting of the Societas Spinozana), 22/12/2014.

“Spinoza e il problema della coscienza umana”, University of Verona, Italy (Philosophy Postgraduate Seminars), 21/03/2014.

Refereed Presentations:

“Mapping the boundaries of conscious life in Margaret Cavendish’s philosophy”, Villanova University, US (The Cavendish Collective Virtual Workshop), 17/06/2023.

“Matérialisme et panpsychisme dans le 17e siècle: Cavendish, Hobbes et Spinoza”, Dalhousie University, Canada (Joint Meeting: 19th Atlantic Canada Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy/11th Quebec Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy), 05/07/2022.

“Spinoza on the Capacities of the Body and the Wonders of the Mind” (with Ohad Nachtomy), Fordham University, US (New York City Workshop in Early Modern Philosophy), 05/12/2020.

“Spinoza on the Capacities of the Body and the Wonders of the Mind” (with Ohad Nachtomy), Princeton University/University of Bucharest, US/Romania (Princeton-Bucharest Virtual Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy), 07/07/2020.

“Spinoza on Reason, Memory, and the ‘Habit of Virtue’”, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada (CPA Annual Congress 2018), 07/06/2018.

“Spinoza on Memory and Intellect”, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada (8th Quebec Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy), 31/05/2018.

“Spinoza on Memory”, University of Durham, UK (BSHP Annual Conference), 14/04/2018.

“Spinoza on Memory and Consciousness”, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, Netherlands (Nijmegen-Groningen Colloquium), 18/11/2016.

“Conflicts of the soul and mind-body interaction in Descartes’ Passions of the Soul”, University of Lodz, Poland (2016 ISSEI Conference), 13/07/2016.

“Common notions and common properties in Spinoza’s theory of knowledge”, University of Calgary, Canada (CPA Annual Congress 2016), 01/06/2016.

“Langage et curiosité au cœur de l’anthropologie philosophique de Thomas Hobbes”, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada (Colloque Fodar 2016), 08/04/2016.

“Common notions and common properties in Spinoza’s theory of knowledge”, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands (Dutch Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy III), 24/03/2016.

“Spinoza on fictitious ideas and possible entities”, University of Groningen, Netherlands (Collegium Spinozanum Summer School), 07/07/2015.

“Language and Curiosity in Hobbes’ Philosophical Anthropology”, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Canada (83e Congrès de l’Acfas/Congrès de la SPQ 2015), 29/05/2015.

“Spinoza’s interpretation of Descartes’ notion of consciousness”, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada (Colloque Fodar 2015), 11/04/2015.

Conference Organization:

Workshop The Cavendish Circle and Hobbes: Philosophical Networks in the 17th Century, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Italy, 30/04/2024. Co-organized with Pietro Daniel Omodeo.

Workshop Non-Cartesian Philosophies of Mind: Early Modern Alternatives, University of Oulu, Finland, 23-24/05/2023. Co-organized with Vili Lähteenmäki.

Online panel Cavendish on the Natures of Mind and Matter, at the Extending New Narratives Opening Discussions, Simon Fraser University, Canada, 04/03/2022.

Workshop Spinoza and Spinozism: Then and Now, University of Groningen, Netherlands, 15/05/2019.

Joint panel North American Spinoza Society – Spinoza Society of Canada, at the APA Pacific Division Annual Meeting 2019, Vancouver, Canada, 18/04/2019. Co-organized with Torin Doppelt and Sarah Kizuk.

Symposium Third Annual Meeting of the Spinoza Society of Canada / Société canadienne d’études sur Spinoza: Desiring and Knowing: Bodies, Cognition, and Power, at the CPA Annual Congress 2018, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, 05/06/2018. Co-organized with Sarah Kizuk.

Symposium Spinoza: Method, Metaphysics, and Morality / La méthode de Spinoza, sa métaphysique et sa morale, at the APA Central Division Annual Meeting 2018, Chicago, US, 21/02/2018. Co-organized with Torin Doppelt and Sarah Kizuk.

Symposium SSC / SCES: Spinoza’s Political Theory / La théorie politique de Spinoza, at the CPA Annual Congress 2017, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada, 28/05/2017. Co-organized with Torin Doppelt and Sarah Kizuk.

Workshop Spinoza et ses amis, McGill University, Canada, 17/06/2016. Co-organized with Torin Doppelt.

Symposium First Meeting of the ‘Spinoza Society of Canada / Société canadienne d’études sur Spinoza’: Current Debates and Ongoing Research, at the CPA Annual Congress 2016, University of Calgary, Canada, 01/06/2016. Co-organized with Torin Doppelt.

Teaching Activities:

Full Courses:

Spring 2023:   “In-depth Study of the History of Philosophy”, BA course, co-taught with Vili Lähteenmäki and Jani Sinokki, University of Oulu, Faculty of Humanities.

2019 – 2020:   “Spinoza”, one-year course (25 weeks) for graduate students, Bar-Ilan University, Department of General Philosophy.

Winter 2017:   “Histoire de la philosophie moderne I”, first year BA course, co-taught 50/50 with Syliane Malinowski-Charles, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Département de philosophie et des arts.

Guest Lectures:

27/01/2020:   “Spinoza’s conception of the mind-body relationship”, for the joint BA-MA course ‘History of Mind-Body Relationship Theories’, Bar-Ilan University, Department of General Philosophy, Israel.

26/11/2019:   “Descartes’s Meditations”, for the BA course ‘Introduction to Modern Philosophy’, Bar-Ilan University, Department of General Philosophy, Israel.

25/11/2019:   “Aristotelian medieval theories of mind: Averroes and Aquinas”, for the joint BA-MA course ‘History of Mind-Body Relationship Theories’, Bar-Ilan University, Department of General Philosophy, Israel.

18/11/2019:   “Ancient theories of mind: Plato and Aristotle”, for the combined BA-MA course ‘History of Mind-Body Relationship Theories’, Bar-Ilan University, Department of General Philosophy, Israel.

06/05/2019:   “Spinoza on toleration”, for the third-year BA course ‘Toleration in the History of Political Philosophy’, University of Groningen, Faculty of Philosophy, Netherlands.

07/11/2016:   “Spinoza on consciousness”, for the first year BA course ‘History of Philosophy: Seventeenth Century’, University of Groningen, Faculty of Philosophy, Netherlands.

Professional Service:

Management of Associations:

2022 – present:   Board Member, Societas Spinozana, Italy.

2018 – 2021:   Chair of the Scientific Committee, Societas Spinozana, Italy.

2016 – 2020:   Founding member and co-administrator, Spinoza Society of Canada / Société canadienne d’études sur Spinoza, Canada.

Memberships of Research Groups:

2023 – present:   Extending New Narratives.

2022 – present:   New Voices on Women in the History of Philosophy.

2017 – present:   Groningen Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Thought.

Committee Appointments:

2017 – 2018:   Member, Comité de programme de cycles supérieurs en philosophie, Département de philosophie et des arts, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada.

2015 – 2016:   Member, Comité de sélection des Prix d'excellence en recherche de l'UQTR, Vice-Rectorate for Research and Development, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada.

Journal Referee:

Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie (De Gruyter), British Journal for the History of Philosophy (Taylor & Francis), Dianoia (STEM Mucchi Editore), InCircolo. Rivista di filosofia e culture (ISSN 2531-4092), Notes and Records: the Royal Society journal of the history of science (The Royal Society Publishing), Philosophies (MDPI), Religions (MDPI), Society and Politics (‘Vasile Goldis’ University Press), Sophia (Springer), Studia de philosophia moderna (ISSN 2368-7770), The European Legacy (Taylor & Francis).

Conference Referee:

Dutch Seminar in Early modern Philosophy IX (2023, Utrecht, Netherlands), New Israeli Philosophical Association (Annual Conference 2021, Raanana, Israel).

Editorships:

2023 – present:   PhilPapers, Editor of the category “Spinoza: Miscellaneous”.

Languages:

Italian:   Native.

English:   Proficient comprehension, speaking, and writing (C2 CEFR).

French:   Proficient comprehension, speaking, and writing (C2 CEFR).

Latin:   Advanced comprehension.

Web sites:

https://oulu.academia.edu/ObertoMarrama

https://philpeople.org/profiles/oberto-marrama

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2z4VYe8AAAAJ&hl=it&oi=ao