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  • Book
  • © 2016

Studies on Collingwood, History and Civilization

Authors:

  1. Jan van der Dussen

    1. Heerlen, The Netherlands

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  • Discusses the ‘lost’ manuscript of the Principles of History and the later work An Autobiography Addresses topics in historiography, historical science, historical consciousness and civilization
  • Offers a critical review of the concept of Sublime Historical Experience
  • Considers the relationship of the western and non-western worlds and the impact of Edward Said’s book Orientalism

Sections

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxv
    PDF

  2. Collingwood’s Philosophy of History

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1
      PDF

    7. Collingwood’s Claim that History is a Science

      • Jan van der Dussen
      Pages 137-152

  3. The Study of History and Historiography

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-153
      PDF

    2. Herodotus as Pater Historiae

      • Jan van der Dussen
      Pages 155-168

    3. Toynbee and his Critics

      • Jan van der Dussen
      Pages 169-193

    4. The Historian and his Evidence

      • Jan van der Dussen
      Pages 195-212

  4. Issues of Culture and Civilization from a Historical and Philosophical Perspective

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 255-255
      PDF

    3. Sense of Crisis in Historical Perspective

      • Jan van der Dussen
      Pages 279-297

    4. Responsibility for Future Generations

      • Jan van der Dussen
      Pages 299-314

    5. The Lasting Debate on Human Rights

      • Jan van der Dussen
      Pages 315-339

    6. The West and the Rest

      • Jan van der Dussen
      Pages 341-365

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 367-386
    PDF
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About this book

This volume is divided into three parts. The first explores various aspects of Collingwood’s philosophy of history, offering a follow-up to themes discussed in the author’s revised edition of History as a Science. The Philosophy of R.G. Collingwood(Springer, 2012). After a general introduction to Collingwood’s philosophy of history, his manuscript The Principles of History of 1939 is discussed. This manuscript was considered ‘lost’ for some time but has been rediscovered in 1995. Other topics dealt with are Collingwood’s philosophy of history in the year of his An Autobiography(1939), the philosophical context of his re-enactment theory, his views on the notions of process, progress, and civilization, as well as his unusual claim that history is a science. The following four essays of the second part deal with various aspects relating to the study of history and historiography. As regards the latter subject, attention is paid to the works of Herodotus and Toynbee, who correspond in having a wide scope and having been under debate. With respect to the study of history, the crucial notion of evidence is addressed, while a critical appraisal is made of the way the idea of a 'real' past is dealt with by Ankersmit. The third part of the volume discusses issues related to Western civilization and culture, and topics that are of global relevance. Both are dealt with from a historical and philosophical perspective. The first two essays focus on the rupture that occurred in Europe since the end of the eighteenth century as regards the relationship between past, present, and future, resulting in a loss of historical consciousness, and feelings of disorientation and crisis. The last three essays address the global issues of the responsibility for future generations and universal human rights, as well as the more general theme of the relationship between the West and the non-Western world.
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Keywords

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Authors and Affiliations

  • Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Jan van der Dussen

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About the author

Jan van der Dussen did a master’s in both history and philosophy (1966, 1970) at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands), and a PhD in philosophy at the same university in 1980. In 1969-1970 he studied at York University (Toronto) on a scholarship of the Canada Council. In 1983 he was a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago on a Fulbright grant. In 1985-1986 he was a fellow at the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies at Wassenaar, and has held professorships at the University of Nijmegen, and the Open University of the Netherlands at Heerlen. His publications include History as a Science: The Philosophy of R.G. Collingwood (The Hague,1981), which was republished in a revised edition by Springer (Dordrecht, 2012). Besides this, he was editor of the revised edition of R.G. Collingwood, The Idea of History (Oxford, 1993). and with W.H. Dray editor of R.G. Collingwood. The Principles of History and Other Writings in Philosophy of History (Oxford, 1999).
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