GRK 1876: Early Concepts of Man and Nature: Universal, Local, Borrowed

GRK的目标是以一种典范的方式把握人与自然的概念及其起源，重点关注文化内和跨文化的理解，并以文本、标志和材料来源为起点。这些资料来自北非、近东和欧洲，时间跨度从公元前10万年到中世纪。为了实现这一目标，已经确定了四个重叠的主要研究领域：A)宇宙的主要状态和主要元素的概念，宇宙演化和世界末日b)自然现象，自然力和自然灾害的概念c)植物，动物和自然环境的概念d)人体，疾病，治疗和死亡的概念。GRK提供了在这四个领域产生相关结果的机会，通过识别、分析和背景化单个概念，然后在跨学科环境中讨论和验证它们，并将它们结合起来获得总体综合。在这个过程中，（虽然我们假设对“概念”有一个广泛的理解，作为理论和方法的起点），具体的问题将被解决，包括这些概念的种类、传播和发展，以及概念在时间、文学属、传播媒介、语言、图像、材料、社会文化环境和个人影响方面的形成。比较一种文化内部和外部的概念将导致关于普遍性、特殊性和传播的多种创新见解。通过更广泛地询问普遍性、特殊性和传播的原因，我们将产生关于人类学因素是否以及如何影响早期人与自然概念的新假设。GRK通过一个广泛而结构化的项目来支持研究过程，该项目植根于单一学科，但也包括全体会议、研讨会和跨学科会议等跨学科形式。它为博士研究生提供了内容和方法方面的大力支持，在美因茨提供了良好的科学环境（例如已建立的讲习班“新医学”和“Antike Naturwissenschaften und ihre Rezeption”，研究中心“Historische Kulturwissenschaften”和“Römisch-Germanische中央博物馆”），着名的国内和国际合作伙伴以及结构良好的高级培训机会。

The aim of the GRK is to grasp concepts of man and nature and their beginnings in an exemplary way, focusing on an intra-cultural as well as a trans-cultural understanding and taking textual, iconic and material sources as a starting point. These sources come from North- East Africa, the Near East and Europe and cover a span from 100.000 BC to Medieval times. To achieve that aim, four overlapping main fields of research have been defined:A) Concepts of primary states of the cosmos and primary elements, cosmogony and theend of the worldB) Concepts of natural phenomena, natural forces and natural catastrophesC) Concepts of flora, fauna and natural surroundingsD) Concepts of the human body, sickness, healing and death.The GRK offers the opportunity to produce relevant results within these four fields by identifying, analyzing and contextualizing single concepts and afterwards discussing and verifying them in an interdisciplinary environment and combining them to gain overarching syntheses. During this process, (while we assume a broad understanding of "concept" as a theoretical and methodological starting point) specific questions will be tackled about the kinds, communication and development of such concepts as well as about the shaping of concepts in terms of time, literary genus, media used for transmission, language, iconography, material, socio-cultural environment, and individual influences. Comparing concepts within a culture and beyond will lead to manifold innovative insights regarding universality, specificity and transmission. By asking more generally for the reasons for universality, specificity and transmission we will generate new hypotheses about if and how anthropological factors have also influenced early concepts of man and nature. The GRK supports the process of research by a broad and structured program, which is rooted in the single disciplines but also includes interdisciplinary formats like discussion in a plenum, workshops and transdisciplinary conferences. It supplies the doctoral candidates with intense support regarding content and method, an excellent scientific environment in Mainz (e.g. the established workshops "Alte Medizin" and "Antike Naturwissenschaften und ihre Rezeption", the research-center "Historische Kulturwissenschaften", and the "Römisch-Germanische Zentralmuseum"), renowned national and international partners and well-structured opportunities for advanced training.