Biography
Prof. dr. J.A. (Han) van Ruler is Professor of Intellectual History and Vice-Dean at Erasmus School of Philosophy (ESPhil), Erasmus University Rotterdam.
In 2019, Han van Ruler was awarded an NWO 'Open Competition' Research Grant for the project Decoding Descartes. Formerly, he acted as President of the Dutch National ‘Philosophy Month’ Foundation (Stichting Maand van de Filosofie; 2014-2019), as Scientific Director of the Dutch Research School of Philosophy OZSW (2014-2018), as President of the OZSW History of Philosophy Section (2014-2018), as President of the Dutch National Philosophy Olympiad NFO (2012-2017) and as Co-organiser of the 25th International Philosophy Olympiad, Rotterdam, 25-28 May 2017.
Since 2011, Han van Ruler is General Editor of the prestigious book series Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History (BSIH) – founded by Arjo Vanderjagt in 1987. Brill's Studies in Intellectual History is a peer-reviewed book series that publishes new approaches to history, the history of philosophy and theology, and the history of ideas. Special attention is given to the use of interdisciplinary methods and insights, such as those of cultural anthropology, semiotics and linguistic analysis. Occasionally, volumes will contain papers of eminent scholars and proceedings of conferences that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.
Recent publications by Han van Ruler include:
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Dissertation on Combinatorial Art, Massimo Mugnai, Han van Ruler and Martin Wilson (eds), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020, 302 pp.;
- ‘Beatitude and the Scope of Grace: Early-Modern Morals and the Paradoxes of Felicity’, in: Alberto Frigo (ed.), Inexcusabiles: Salvation and the Virtues of the Pagans in the Early Modern Period, Archives internationales d’histoire des idées, vol. 229, Cham: Springer, 2020, pp. 107-123; [https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40017-0];
- 'Philosopher Defying the Philosophers: Descartes's Life and Works', in Steven Nadler, Tad M. Schmaltz and Delphine Antoine-Mahut (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Descartes and Cartesianism, Chapter 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 3-24;
- ‘La découverte du domaine mental : Descartes et la naturalisation de la conscience’, Noctua 3 (2016-2; online 14 August 2017), pp. 239-294, [http://www.didaschein.net/ojs/index.php/noctua/index];
- Together with Jeroen Hermkens: In de voetsporen van Erasmus, Beilen: Pharos uitgevers, 2017, 160 pp.;
- Together with Giulia Sissa (UCLA): Utopia 1516-2016: More’s Eccentric Essay and its Activist Aftermath, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2017, 243 pp.;
- ‘Arnold Geulincx (1624-1669)’, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 2161-0002, [http://www.iep.utm.edu/geulincx/][http_www.iep.utm.edu_geulincx]
Areas of PhD supervision
- History of Early Modern Western Philosophy
- Renaissance Moral Philosophy
- Descartes and Cartesianism
- Early Modern Feminism
- Erasmus; Thomas More
- Spinoza; Leibniz
- Western Cultural History
- History of Metaphysics
- Early Modern History of Science
- Early Modern Political Philosophy
More information
Work
- H. Van Ruler & Y. Stein (2024) - Amor intellectualis Dei - [link]
- H. Van Ruler (2024) - Generositas - [link]
- Han van Ruler, Erik-Jan Bos & C.L. Vermeulen (2022) - René Descartes, Meditaties over de eerste filosofie - [link]
- Han van Ruler (2020) - Of Dogs and Men: The «Psychological» and the «Ethical» in Descartes and Spinoza - Rivista di Filosofia Neo-Scolastica, 112, 393-410 - doi: 10.26350/001050_000192
- Han Ruler (2020) - Beatitude and the Scope of Grace: Early-Modern Morals and the Paradoxes of Felicity - [link]
- Yoshi Kato & Han Van Ruler (2020) - Confessional Clamour and Intellectual Indifference - Church History and Religious Culture, 100 (2-3), 133-143 - doi: 10.1163/18712428-bja10006 - [link]
- Han van Ruler, M Mugnai & M Wilson (2020) - Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Dissertation on Combinatorial Art, Massimo Mugnai, Han van Ruler and Martin Wilson (eds) - [link]
- Han Van Ruler (2020) - Method vs. Metaphysics - Church History and Religious Culture, 100 (3-2), 203-218 - doi: 10.1163/18712428-10002009 - [link]
- Han van Ruler (2019) - Minima Philosophica: Het gelijkgeslachtelijk huwelijk - Filosofie en Praktijk, 40, 38-42
- Han van Ruler (2019) - Philosopher Defying the Philosophers: Descartes’s Life and Works - [link]
- Han van Ruler (2019) - Ross Dealy, The Stoic Origins of Erasmus’ Philosophy of Christ - Renaissance Quarterly, 71, 1445-1447
- Han van Ruler (2019) - Spinoza in Leiden - [link]
- Han van Ruler (2018) - ‘Descartes en de vonk van een vriendschap’ - Filosofie Magazine, 76-82 - [link]
- Han van Ruler (2018) - Over het goed besturen en verdedigen van de stad - Filosofie Magazine - [link]
- Han van Ruler (2018) - Spinoza & Dutch Cartesianism: Philosophy and Theology - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews (online), 2015.09.32
- Han van Ruler & Giulia Sissa (2017) - Utopia 1516-2016: More’s Eccentric Essay and its Activist Aftermath - [link]
- Han van Ruler (2017) - Book Review Terence J. Martin - Renaissance Quarterly, 70, 1168-1170
- Han van Ruler & J Hermkens (2017) - In de voetsporen van Erasmus
- Han van Ruler (2017) - Introduction
- Han Ruler (18 March 2020) - Podcast Erasmus
- Han Ruler (1 January 2019) - Tim Fransen, Het leven als tragikomedie
- Han Ruler (1 January 2019) - Ineke Loots and Joke Spaans (eds), Johannes Hoornbeeck (1617-1666), On the Conversion of Indians and Heathens: An Annotated Translation of De conversione Indorum et gentilium (1669)
- Han Ruler (1 January 2019) - Wiep van Bunge, From Bayle to the Batavian Revolution: Essays on Philosophy in the Eighteenth-Century Dutch Republic
- Han Ruler (1 January 2019) - Rudolf Schuessler, The Debate on Probable Opinions in the Scholastic Tradition
- Han Ruler (1 January 2019) - Joke Spaans and Jetze Touber (eds), Enlightened Religion: From Confessional Churches to Polite Piety in the Dutch Republic
- Han Ruler (1 January 2019) - Karen E. Hollewand, The Banishment of Beverland: Sex, Sin, and Scholarship in the Seventeenth-Century Dutch Republic
- Han Ruler (1 January 2019) - 285. Jeroen De Keyser (ed.), Francesco Filelfo: Man of Letters
- Han Ruler (1 January 2019) - Manuel Mertens, Magic and Memory in Giordano Bruno: The Art of a Heroic Spirit
- Han Ruler (1 January 2019) - Roberto Pinzani, The Problem of Universals from Boethius to John of Salisbury
- Han van Ruler (2020) - Springer (Publisher) (Reviewer)
Activity: Publication Peer-review › Academic - Han Ruler (2019) - Erasmus en Luther (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Popular - Han Ruler (2019) - Maand van de Filosofie 2019 (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Popular - Han Ruler (2019) - Medecine or Metaphysics: The Psychological and the Ethical in Descartes and Spinoza (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - Han Ruler (2019) - Chair at NFO (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - Han Ruler (2019) - Utopia (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Popular - Han Ruler & Marli Huijer (2019) - Let’s (not) talk about sex: Foucault, sexual identities and the idea of liberation (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - Han Ruler (2019) - Erasmus’ plaats in de filosofie (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - Han Ruler (2019) - Minicollege Descartes (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Popular - Han Ruler (2019) - Erasmus – Leven en Werk (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic
Brill's Studies in Intellectual History
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FWO Vlaanderen
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Minor Sports and Society
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