历史学专业英语08-Political_Philosophy.ppt

History of Ideas Dr Mark J Crowley E-Mail: MJC83LIVE.CO.UK Foundations Universality Roots in Aristotles thoughts Science, politics, ethics, aesthetics, rhetoric, poetry, history Anything that creates wonder Foundations Aristotle, Metaphysics Progressive development The canon to measure impact of thought Significant or insignificant permitted sagacity (Nietzsche) or truly great Intellectual history would grow over time Criticisms Not welcomed by traditional historians Some concerned about the impact of theory Geoffrey Elton the virus of theory by its very nature, likely to lose contact with reality (Elton) Development Arthur Lovejoy (1930s) Unit ideas traced through time Foundation of ideas Psychological impact 1940 Journal of the History of Ideas Changes in society Religion not so important by 19th century People more interested in rationality and science we learn that there is a definite mode of progress for the mind of man; and from the history of later times we shall find that it is ever in the same direction (J W Draper) Aims and purpose Historians of ideas want to make intelligible the way someone else has seen the world intelligible; they want to understand how someone else has understood things (Mark Bevir) Why use intellectual history? Try to understand how contemporaries understood the past Cultural environment Is philosophy, literature, art, music and history created against this background? The Zeitgeist (spirit of the time) Key questions How does cultural and intellectual change happen? Replacement of intellectual frameworks How do people respond to intellectual change? The results Self-knowledge through examining alternatives Liberated from tunnel vision Methods Text-based study Reading and interpreting intrinsic meaning to know what a writer meant by a particular work is to know what his primary intentions were in writing it (Quentin Skinner) Machiavelli, The Prince (1513) “From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both: but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.” Machiavelli, The Prince (1513) “A prince being thus obliged to know well how to act as a beast must imitate the fox and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from traps, and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. One must therefore be a fox to recognize traps, and a lion to frighten wolves”. Usefulness and limitations the most important historical skill is that of putting information into context (Conrad Russell, 1990) Where do we stop? What do we mean by context? How do we select the context? Usefulness and limitations Language considerations Meaning changes through time How do we know the tone? How do we understand concepts that no longer exist? Necessity Richard H Popkin, History of Scepticism we need all the insight we can garner from the past, so that we may yet have a future Interdisciplinary Intellectual, social and political history People have lost confidence in institutions Necessity Cannot be considered without the knowledge of the men and women who created, discussed, wrote about and were concerned with ideas. Linked to history of philosophy and ideas Study ideas in the context of culture Ideas do not develop in isolation Key features Understanding the past through contextualisation Political, cultural, social, intellectual Chronological Contemporary Place ideas from the past into multiple contexts The future Never be able to find the truth Global intellectual history? Connections with other societies History of the book What is the point of it? Insight into our own thoughts and beliefs Look at alternatives Bring together id