Description
Book SynopsisA COMPANION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
The philosophy of historiography examines our representations and knowledge of the past, the relation between evidence, inference, explanation and narrative. Do we possess knowledge of the past? Do we just have probable beliefs about the past, or is historiography a piece of convincing fiction? The philosophy of history is the direct philosophical examination of history, whether it is necessary or contingent, whether it has a direction or whether it is coincidental, and if it has a direction, what it is, and how and why it is unfolding?
The fifty entries in this Companion cover the main issues in the philosophies of historiography and history, including natural history and the practices of historians. Written by an international and multi-disciplinary group of experts, these clearly written entries present a cutting-edge updated picture of current research in the philosophies of historiography and history.
This
Trade Review
"Like the encompassing nature of the other volumes in the Blackwell Companion to Philosophy series, undergraduate students and scholars with a serious interest in philosophical problems related to history and historiography should benefit from the newest Companion." (Reviews in Religion & Theology, 2012)
"This volume does a fine job of showing the field's connections to many of the central concerns of contemporary philosophy. Part Four offers essays addressing the traditional schools and issues of philosophy of history and historiography, as well as valuable essays on postmodernism, Muslim philosophy of history, and philosophy of history at the end of the Cold War, among other topics. Recommended." (Choice, June 2009)
"Tucker is to be congratulated…for conceiving of this work, and for soliciting, selecting, organizing, and editing its essays—all of which were written especially for the volume. [E]ach essay presents a particular author's take on a subject, often ending with further questions and suggestions. In this way it resembles a conversational partner who accompanies one along the way, stimulating further reflection as well as providing interesting information and observations. A companion literally is someone who breaks bread with another (com: with; panis: bread), and it certainly is the case that these essays—so clearly written, so mercifully manageable in length, and so sharp in focus—collectively and individually provide a great deal of food for thought.
[T]he range and scope of the volume…is impressive by any standard. The fact that the authors are world-class authorities in the areas in which they are writing, and that they have made a special effort (prodded, no doubt, by its editor), to write in clear, jargon-free prose, makes evident the appeal and usefulness of the book. Too, the book is handsomely produced and well copy-edited by Wiley-Blackwell." (Brian Fay, Journal of the Philosophy of History)
Table of ContentsList of Contributors ix
Acknowledgments xi
Glossary of Terms xii
1 Introduction 1
Aviezer Tucker
Part I Major Fields 7
2 Philosophy of Historiography 9
Peter Kosso
3 Philosophy of History 26
ZdenFk VaSíCek
4 Philosophical Issues in Natural History and Its Historiography 44
Carol E. Cleland
5 Historians and Philosophy of Historiography 63
John Zammito
Part II Basic Problems 85
6 Historiographic Evidence and Confirmation 87
Mark Day and Gregory Radick
7 Causation in Historiography 98
Aviezer Tucker
8 Historiographic Counterfactuals 109
Elazar Weinryb
9 Historical Necessity and Contingency 120
Yemima Ben-Menahem
10 Explanation in Historiography 131
Graham Macdonald and Cynthia Macdonald
11 Historiographic Understanding 142
Giuseppina D’Oro
12 Colligation 152
C. Behan McCullagh
13 The Laws of History 162
Stephan Berry
14 Historiographic Objectivity 172
Paul Newall
15 Realism about the Past 181
Murray Murphey
16 Anti-realism about the Past 190
Fabrice Pataut
17 Narrative and Interpretation 199
F. R. Ankersmit
18 The Ontology of the Objects of Historiography 209
Lars Udehn
19 Origins: Common Causes in Historiographic Reasoning 220
Aviezer Tucker
20 Phylogenetic Inference 231
Matt Haber
21 Historicism 243
Robert D’Amico
22 Ethics and the Writing of Historiography 253
Jonathan Gorman
23 Logical Fallacies of Historians 262
Paul Newall
24 Historical Fallacies of Historians 274
Carlos Spoerhase and Colin G. King
Part III Philosophy and Sub-fields of Historiography 285
25 Philosophy of History of Science 287
Nicholas Jardine
26 Philosophies of Historiography and the Social Sciences 297
Harold Kincaid
27 The Philosophy of Evolutionary Theory 307
Michael Ruse
28 The Philosophy of Geology 318
Rob Inkpen
29 Philosophy of Archaeology 330
Ben Jeffares
30 Reductionism: Historiography and Psychology 342
Cynthia Macdonald and Graham Macdonald
31 Historiography and Myth 353
Mary Lefkowitz
32 Historiography and Memory 362
Marie-Claire Lavabre
33 Historiographic Schools 371
Christopher Lloyd
Part IV Classical Schools and Philosophers of Historiography and History 381
34 Leopold Ranke 383
Thomas Gil
35 Scientific Historiography 393
Chris Lorenz
36 Darwin 404
John S. Wilkins
37 Logical Empiricism and Logical Positivism 416
Krzysztof Brzechczyn
38 Jewish and Christian Philosophy of History 427
Samuel Moyn
39 Muslim Philosophy of History 437
Zaid Ahmad
40 Vico 446
Joseph Mali
41 Kant and Herder 457
Sharon Anderson-Gold
42 Hegel 468
Tom Rockmore
43 Neo-Kantianism 477
Charles Bambach
44 Marx 488
Tom Rockmore
45 Collingwood and Croce 498
Stein Helgeby
46 Phenomenology 508
David Weberman
47 Jan Patocka 518
Ivan Chvatík
48 Hermeneutics 529
Rudolf A. Makkreel
49 Postmodernism 540
Beverley Southgate
50 Philosophy of History at the End of the Cold War 550
Krishan Kumar
Index 561
