Philosophical Disputations at the University of Tartu 1632-1710: Boundaries of a Discipline

Abstract

The article focuses on the definitions and divisions of philosophical disciplines in the disputations presented at the University of Tartu during the first two periods of its existence: Academia Gustaviana (1632--1656) and Academia Gustavo-Carolina (1690--1710). The classifications of philosophy in Tartu are studied in the context of competing traditions of classifying knowledge and the spread of novel pedagogical methods in early modern Europe. These trends were also reflected in the university statutes that were directly borrowed from the University of Uppsala, the parent institution of the academy in Tartu. The article shows that a strong emphasis on Ramist methods of teaching in the 1632 constitution and a similar prominence given to Aristotelianism in the 1689 constitution affected, to some extent, the priorities given to certain disciplines in the faculties but did not always determine the division of responsibilities between professors nor the conceptual tools and contents of instruction.