Editions
The selection of authors and texts included within the Modern Philosophy Source platform reflects, except for a few cases, the criteria that had been followed in the past at the CNR research centre Lessico Intellettuale Europeo (one of the two centres which later came together in the ILIESI), when a textual data-base was set up, which focussed on the philosophy of the early modern age.
The same data-base is also at the origin of many digital transcriptions of philosophical texts, which have been used and variously updated to implement the Modern Philosophy Source platform. On the contrary, the transcriptions of the texts by Bruno and Vico, as well as those of Leibniz’s Monadology and its translations are the result of other ILIESI initiatives and have been kindly made available respectively by Eugenio Canone, Marco Veneziani, and Antonio Lamarra, Roberto Palaia and Pietro Pimpinella.
No less than in the case of the previous data-base, in planning this platform priority has been given to sources, which proved the actual dissemination of texts; whereas, at least in this first and launching stage, neither the intrinsic value of a text nor the genetic process of its editing have been considered as such. As a consequence, only printed texts have been chosen to be included in the platform and, when possible, reference editions – although they are usually modern – have been preferred to manuscripts, unpublished works, and original old editions. Sources like those will progressively be included in the Modern Philosophy Source platform according to a development plan of the Daphnet platforms that we wish to implement in the near future.