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Imagination and Critique

Two Rival Versions of Historical Inquiry

  • Book
  • © 2010

Overview

Authors:
  1. James R. L. Noland

    1. Richmond, U.S.A.

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  • Applies rigorous philosophical analysis to the basic assumptions of historical inquiry/social science as actually practiced
  • Includes a case study and specific implications of philosophy for study of policy developments
  • Illustrates how/why assumptions about past influence ability to anticipate future
  • Offers a new, powerful argument against the basic foundations of Marxist thought

Part of the book series: Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture (PSCC, volume 19)

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Table of contents (10 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Introduction

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 1-6

  3. The Story of the Federal Income Tax: A Case Study

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 7-19

  4. Vico and the Faculty of Imagination

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 21-37

  5. Marx’s Critique of History

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 39-51

  6. Addressing Marx Through Rawls

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 53-68

  7. Ideology and the Problem of Naming

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 69-84

  8. Imagination in Practice

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 85-97

  9. What’s the Matter with What’s the Matter with Kansas?

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 99-117

  10. Freeing Anthropology from Critique

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 119-138

  11. Imagination and the Possibility of Civil Politics

    • James R.L. Noland
    Pages 139-146

  12. Back Matter

    Pages 147-155
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Keywords

About this book

This book is most easily described as philosophy of history; however, this descr- tion may be a little misleading. Truly, this is a work of applied philosophy that was originally conceived not in a philosophy seminar but in a school of public policy. As a philosopher learning about the study of public policy formation, I was f- quently struck by what I perceived to be two very different sets of assumptions and methods at work. I found these assumptions and methods to be mutually exclusive conceptually, but they were often employed simultaneously. On the one hand, it was often accepted as given when studying past policy changes and political events that history is shaped by impersonal forces, that p- ple’s actions can, and ought only to be understood as manifestations of their own material interests, and that individuals are to be identi?ed as representatives of their respective demographic categories. Thus, for example, the events in question were explained in terms of the race or class of the various parties. When such an approach was challenged with an appeal to the actual arguments and stated rationales of the participants of the historical moment in question, this was taken to be an option that might be employed either in conjunction with the former method or as an alter- tive. Which method one chose to emphasize or employ exclusively seemed more a function of inclination or intuition than rational adjudication.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Richmond, U.S.A.

    James R. L. Noland

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