The What and the Why of History: Philosophical Essays: 15 (Philosophy of History and Culture) - Hardcover

Goldstein

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 9004103082 ISBN 13: 9789004103085

Publisher: Brill, 1996

Synopsis

The What and the Why of History deals with history as a cognitive discipline concerned to establish justifiable knowledge about a past we can never experience. It is divided into three parts. The first focuses on the conditions that are presupposed when historians offer explanations of what they have come to know. But whatever is to be explained must first come to be known, and the second part is concerned with the character of the cognitive activity which is the constitution of the historical past. The point is that we must attend to the historical enterprise on its own terms, and not try to make it fit the epistemology of natural science or of common sense. The last section deals with Collingwood. It is shown that his characteristic positions contribute to an account of historical knowing, not historical explanation.

About this title

Synopsis:

This work deals with history as a cognitive discipline concerned with establishing justifiable knowledge about a past that cannot be experienced. The first part focuses on the conditions that are presupposed when historians offer explanations of what they have come to know. But whatever is to be explained must first come to be known, and the second part is concerned with the character of the cognitive activity which is the constitution of the historical past. The author argues that it is important to attend to the historical enterprise on its own terms, and not try to make it fit the epistemology of natural science or of common sense. The last section deals with the work of Collingwood, showing that his characteristic positions contribute to an account of historical knowing, not historical explanation.

About the Author:

Leon J. Goldstein, Ph.D. (1954) in Philosophy, Yale University, is Professor of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Binghamton and an editor of International Studies in Philosophy. He is currently working on a book on open concepts and conceptual tension.

About this edition

• Publisher: Brill
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 9004103082
• ISBN 13: 9789004103085
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368