Dr. Adi Efal Lautenschlaeger
Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
My Life Before BGU:
I grew up in Kfar Saba and completed my undergraduate studies at the University of Haifa, majoring in art and philosophy. I then pursued two master’s degrees: one at Tel Aviv University in art history and another at the University of Lille in France, in philosophy. I hold two doctorates – one from Tel Aviv University and the other from the University of Strasbourg.
My first doctoral dissertation focused on the representation of the domestic sphere and intimism in the paintings of Édouard Vuillard, and in the intellectual culture of France around 1900. My second dissertation examined early Cartesian philosophy in the mid-17th century, with a particular emphasis on Descartes’ philosophical method, his followers, and his critics.
I have held numerous postdoctoral fellowships, including at the Hebrew University, the University of Cologne, and the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. During these fellowships I researched a variety of topics, including: The concept of "habitus" in the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas; Questions of regulations and habits in 17th-century French thought; Philosophy and technique in 17th-century art theory; and Bergson and Spinoza on intuition.
Why BGU?
It’s exciting to do philosophy in the desert!
One can never predict where or when new philosophical thought might emerge. All the same, at least for me, tranquility and the ability to focus on meaningful intellectual tasks are vital. Moreover, I believe that for philosophy to thrive, there must be respect and openness to thought in all its forms. I have found these qualities and conditions in the Department of Philosophy at Ben-Gurion University.
My Research:
My focus is the history of European philosophy, especially of the 17th and the 19th centuries. I am interested in what it means to be “rational” and how philosophy uses different methods of order. That is why I also investigate the link between order in philosophy and order in art.
Something that doesn't appear on my CV:
I really like yoga and painting
A source of inspiration:
René Descartes
If I wasn’t a researcher…
I would be teaching
In Brief:
- Pilates or spinning? Just yoga
- Morning or night? Evening and night, and even the afternoon or noon. Just not the morning!
- Summer or winter? As much as possible, winter. Winter, winter, winter.
- Steak or tofu? Tofu
- Car or train? Public transportation only
- Classical Europe or India? Classical Europe, but I never have the time to just travel…
- City or country? In general, city, but not just any city.
- Three things I’d take to a desert island: Watercolor painting kit, yoga mat, and the collected works of Aristotle
