Dr. Marta García Alonso | Full professor
Marta García Alonso (Oviedo, 1972) holds a Ph.D. in philosophy ( UNED) and a B.A. in canon law ( UPCO). MA in Bioethics ( UNED) and MA in Neuroscience ( IAEU) Her research focuses mostly on the History of political ideas, with a sideline in Bioethics. She has been a visiting fellow at the Institut d'Études Politiques/CNRS-Université Bordeaux IV (1996), the Université Catholique de Louvain (1997), the École Pratique d’Hautes Études-Paris (1999, 2000), the Institut d’Histoire de la Réformation-Geneva (2001, 2005, 2006), the École Normale Supérieure-Lyon (2007-2008), the Maison française-Oxford (2012), t…
Dr. Marta García Alonso | Full professor
Marta García Alonso (Oviedo, 1972) holds a Ph.D. in philosophy ( UNED) and a B.A. in canon law ( UPCO). MA in Bioethics ( UNED) and MA in Neuroscience ( IAEU) Her research focuses mostly on the History of political ideas, with a sideline in Bioethics. She has been a visiting fellow at the Institut d'Études Politiques/CNRS-Université Bordeaux IV (1996), the Université Catholique de Louvain (1997), the École Pratique d’Hautes Études-Paris (1999, 2000), the Institut d’Histoire de la Réformation-Geneva (2001, 2005, 2006), the École Normale Supérieure-Lyon (2007-2008), the Maison française-Oxford (2012), the Centre for Ideas and Society/University of California-Riverside (2014); the Erasmus University of Rotterdam (2017) and the Institut d’Histoire des Représentation et
des idées dans les Modernités, ENS-Lyon (2022-2023)
Brief Research Statement
My research, spanning two decades, is grounded in a contextual understanding of the history of ideas. I don't limit myself to an "archaeology of knowledge" solely for the sake of erudition, but rather seek to trace the connections between classical concepts and the ideas we still employ today. My work focuses on the conflict between political and philosophical ideas and ecclesiastical and theological ones, demonstrating how many of our current theories repeat conceptual structures from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. I understand the history of ideas as an essential tool for comprehending our contemporary political theories, recognizing the importance of intercultural influence in the development of thought. Therefore, I question the notion that Christianity is the sole key to understanding Europe, challenging Carl Schmitt's thesis on political theology.
My research unfolds along several lines:
Modernity and Reformation (I question the influence of Protestantism on the liberal political tradition): Political-ecclesiastical thought of classical philosophers (Hobbes, La Boétie...). Politics and religion in the Enlightenment (Currently, my research focuses on the works of Pierre Bayle and Benito Feijoo).
