Higher Institute of Philosophy

The Institut supérieur de Philosophie (ISP) (French for: Higher Institute of Philosophy) is an independent research institute at the University of Louvain (UCLouvain) in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. It is a separate entity to the UCLouvain School of Philosophy.

Higher Institute of Philosophy
Institut supérieur de Philosophie
Other name
ISP
MottoSedes Sapientiae (Latin)
Motto in English
Seat of Wisdom, Seat of Knowledge
TypeSchool of philosophy, research institute
Established1889 (135 years ago) (1889)
FounderCardinal Mercier
Parent institution
University of Louvain
PresidentAlexandre Guay
RectorVincent Blondel
Location,
CampusPlanned community
LanguageFrench, English
Websiteuclouvain.be/isp

It was founded in Louvain (Leuven) in 1889 and split in 1968, when the French-speaking part moved to Louvain-la-Neuve.

The institute is known for its achievements in phenomenology and holds the archives of Edmund Husserl, Jean Ladrière, Michel Henry and Maurice Blondel.

History

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The Institut supérieur de Philosophie was founded by Cardinal Mercier on 8 November 1889 with the intent to be a beacon of Neo-Thomist philosophy, although Philosophy and Theology have been taught at the universities of Leuven since 1425. The institute initially taught programs in French and started courses in Dutch in 1933. After the language split of 1968, the French-speaking Institut supérieur de Philosophie moved to the new city of Louvain-la-Neuve while the Instituut voor Wijsbegeerte is today a faculty of the KU Leuven, in Leuven.

Programs offered

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With the UCLouvain's School of Philosophy, the institute offers both taught and research degrees (B.A., M.A., MPhil and PhD) as well as pre-doc and post-doc programs, in French and English.

Departments

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  • Centre for Philosophy of Science and Society (CEFISES)
  • The "PHIGOV" cell of the Centre for Legal Philosophy (CPDR)
  • Centre Europè (CEUR)
  • Centre for Studies and Research in Contemporary Philosophies (CERPhiCo)
  • Centre De Wulf-Mansion (CDWM)
  • Centre for Economic and Social Ethics (ETES/Hoover Chair) led by Philippe Van Parijs
  • Centre for Phenomenological Studies (CEP)
  • Archival fonds of literature, philosophy and the arts (Fonds-Alpha)

Husserl-Archives

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The Institute, together with its Dutch-speaking counterpart in Leuven, are well known as the home of the Husserl-Archives, the research center responsible for the publication of the philosophical work of Edmund Husserl.[1] After the death of the founder of the phenomenological movement, fearing for the destruction of his Nachlass at the hands of the Nazis, Father Herman Van Breda (Franciscan), PhD student at the institute of the Catholic University of Louvain, saved Husserl's manuscripts, library and widow and smuggled them to Leuven via diplomatic channels. The Louvain-la-Neuve archive also contains a complete copy of the documents present in Leuven.

Prizes awarded by the Higher Institute of Philosophy

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The Higher Institute of Philosophy awards two prizes:

Publications

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Renowned emeriti

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Guest researchers and lecturers

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Internationally renowned professors who have lectured at the institute:

References

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  1. ^ "Archives Husserl". UCLouvain. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  2. ^ "International Philosophical Bibliography". Peeters Leuven. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  3. ^ "Historique | UCLouvain". uclouvain.be. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
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