Unity of Nature
Natural philosophy at the turn of the 19th century
From a broad perspective, my research focuses on the challenges posed by the relationship between unity and diversity both in the natural and cultural worlds. I am particularly interested in the ways in which philosophers responded to the spread of scientific data accessible to educated audiences and to the consolidation of new scientific disciplines at the turn of the 19th century. Two key challenges of this time are at the core of my research: the problematic unity of inorganic and organic nature; the problematic unity of nature and human rationality.
I obtained funding for three projects related to this area of my research:
*Marie Curie Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship: Schelling’s Philosophy of Nature and the Environmental Challenge
*Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO): The Contemporary Stakes of Schelling’s Non-Mechanistic Account of Nature
*KU Leuven Postdoctoral Mandate: The Kantian Elements of Schelling’s Philosophy of Nature.
I am also an affiliated researcher to the project Responses to Newton in the 18th Century, a collective project funded by the Flemish Research Foundation.
Research Results:
The Concept of Nature in Classical German Philosophy, edited by Luis Fellipe Garcia. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2025. [link, introduction available in open access]
“From Kant to Schelling: Metaphysics of Nature and the Rise of Modern Science”. The Concept of Nature in Classical German Philosophy, edited by L. F. Garcia: 135-155. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2025. [open access]
“The Key Role of Chemistry in Schelling’s Early Philosophy of Nature”. European Journal of Philosophy 33, No. 3 (2025): 958-973. [open access]
“The Importance of Kant’s Schematism for Schelling’s Project of a Philosophy of Nature”. Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 106, No. 1 (2024): 79-105. [link]
“Why Schelling Now?”. I – Image – Being, edited by F. Ferraguto and G. Cecchinato: 89–102. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 2024. [link]
“Schelling and Röschlaub on the Concept of Life: At the Crossroads between Philosophy and Medicine”. Philosophy, Medicine, and their Historical Relations, edited by W. Euler and A. Grzelínski: 217–240. Torun: Nicolaus Copernicus University Press, 2023. [link]
“Nature at the Core of Idealism: The Birth of Two Strands of Post-Kantian Philosophy”. In Idealistic Studies 51, 1 (2021): 27–49. [link]
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Is Philosophy a Science?
Metaphysics at the turn of the 19th century
My work on natural philosophy is a development of my interest in the way philosophers perceived their own discipline and the task of philosophy at the turn of the 19th century. Is philosophy a science? If so, what kind of science? What is the task of philosophy and the philosopher? What is the relationship between philosophy and bodies of cognition irreducible to physics, such as life sciences, pedagogy, aesthetics, history, or religion?
I obtained funding for two projects related to this area of my research:
* Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellowship: Fichte’s Quest of a New Language for Philosophy
* Special Funds for Research – Belgium (PhD): Fichte’s Philosophy of Philosophy
Research Results:
“Lauth, Kant und der Kampfplatz endloser Streitigkeiten”. Reinhard Lauths Theorie des philosophischen Arguments, ed. by I. Radrizzani and M. Ivaldo: 70–88. Berlin: De Gruyter (forthcoming).
“The Missing Link Between Kant and Fichte: Ernst Platner’s Role in the Genesis of Fichte’s Genetic Method”. Journal of the History of Philosophy 63, No. 3 (2025): 429-452. [open access]
“Ernst Platner”. Fichte-Handbuch. Leben – Werk – Wirkung, edited by M. D’Alfonso, A. Falduto, and C. Klotz: 589–592. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2025. [link]
“La réévaluation fichtéenne du réalisme à la lumière de son échange épistolaire avec Schelling”. Fichte-Studien 51, No. 2 (2022): 266–284. [link]
“From Pure Reason to Human Spirit: Fichte’s Philosophical Exploration of a New Semantic Field”. Revista Filosófica de Coimbra 29, No. 57 (2020): 89–106. [open access]
“Knowing, Creating and Teaching: Fichte’s Concept of Philosophy as Wissenschaftslehre”. Fichte-Studien 46 (2018): 249–67. [link]
La philosophie comme Wissenschaftslehre. Hildesheim: Olms, 2018. [link]
“La matrice juridique et révolutionnaire de la pensée kantienne”. Kriterion: Revista de Filosofia 58, No. 138 (2017): 653–672. [open access]
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Philosophy and Cultural Diversity
Parallel to my work on the philosophical reception of modern science and the question of whether philosophy itself is a science, I developed an interest in questions of cultural diversity. How did contact with new geographical and cultural ecosystems affect the production of philosophical concepts at the turn of the 19th century? How did philosophers respond to the challenge of incorporating geographical diversity into unified accounts of knowledge and history. Conversely, how have these accounts been received in different geographical regions of the world?
I obtained funding for one project related to this area of my research:
* Postdoctoral Fellow of the Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (Capes-Brazil): Fichte’s attempt at a new language for philosophy and its contemporary implications.
Research Results:
German Idealism and the Question of Colonialism, co-edited with Pavel Reichl (under contract with Routledge).
“Kant in Südamerika”. Handbuch Kantianismus, edited by J. Noller. Stuttgart: Metzler (forthcoming).
“Fichte et la puissante impuissance du langage”. Archives de Philosophie 83, No. 1 (2020): 19–32. [link]
“Only Anthropophagy Unites Us – Oswald de Andrade Decolonial Project”. Cultural Studies 34, No. 1 (2020): 122–142. [link]
“Oswald de Andrade / Anthropophagy”. ODIP: The Online Dictionary of Intercultural Philosophy (2020), edited by T. Botz-Bornstein, URL = link.
“A nova Revolução Copernicana – quando o Eu, o Outro e o Todo são outros”. Cuadernos de Filosofía Latinoamericana 41, No. 122 (2020): 17–38. [open access]
“La pertinence contemporaine de la théorie fichtéenne de la reconnaissance”. In AUC Interpretationes – Studia Philosophica Europeanea 8, No. 1 (2018): 27–48. [open access]
“A deutsche Nation e a Razão Tupiniquim – o pensamento vivo diante do conceito estéril”. Trans/Form/Ação 41, No. 4 (2018): 53–74. [open access]
“Die Inszenierung des Subjekts. Für eine Neubewertung unserer philosophischen Erbschaft”. Unzugänglichkeit des Selbst. Perspektiven auf die Subjektivität, edited by F. Gurjanov: 19–44. Nordhausen: Traugott Bautz, 2017. [link]
“La pensée nomade et les ontologies cachées. Eduardo Viveiros de Castro face à la pensée régulatrice”. AUC Interpretationes – Studia Philosophica Europeanea 5, No. 1 (2015): 37–58. [open access]
Luis Fellipe Garcia 