The aim of the department is to serve as a hub in the institute for adopting cutting-edge international research in the history of modern philosophy and embedding the historiography of Hungarian philosophy in its regional and European contexts. In addition to its research in the history of European philosophy, the department initiated the systematic publication of primary sources pertaining to the history of philosophy in Hungary. The focal points of this enterprise are constituted by manuscript sources – e.g., the correspondence of József Eötvös, the memoires of Gustavus Szontagh, documents of the Hungarian early phenomenology or the Hungarian Kant Debate – respectively sources hitherto available only in foreign languages (e.g., in Latin)

Together with other members of the institute, the research group operates the Hungarian Archives of Philosophy (Magyar Filozófiai Archívum, MFA).