Divided into preliminary discussion, lectures on the philosophy of history 1926 and outlines of a. Collingwoods the idea of history 1946 do not carry a. In terms of methodology, collingwoods book can be divided into two main sections. Robin george collingwood, the english philosopher and historian, was born in coniston, lancashire. In the 1970s, with such writings as charles taylors interpretation and the sciences of man5 and, in historiography, minks essay narrative form as a cognitive instrument,6 a kind of consensus emerged about understanding that dropped this talk and eliminated the. The idea of history work by collingwood britannica. His last book, the idea of history 1946, proposed history as a discipline in which one relives the past in ones own mind.
He is best known for his philosophical works, including the principles of art 1938 and the posthumously published the idea of history 1946. The idea of history is the bestknown work of the great oxford philosopher, historian, and archaeologist r. In considering this question, the first point to notice is that the past is never a given fact which he. The idea of history, the principles of history, an autobiography. Only by immersing oneself in the mental actions behind events, by rethinking the past within the context of ones own experience, can the historian discover.
Collingwood his last book, the idea of history 1946, proposed history as a discipline in which one relives the past in ones own mind. Collingwoods philosophy of history is the idea that historical understanding requires a reenactment of past experience. M knox to collingwoods posthumous book the idea of history. Collingwoods idea of history, 1995 mhd mind, history, dialectic, 1969. Published here for the first time is much of a final and longanticipated work on philosophy of history by the great oxford philosopher and historian r. Rowse gave it a regretful notice in the sunday times, but dwelt mainly on the inconclusive nature of. Canadian journal of history, april 1997 from the back cover a central motif of r.
It has become increasingly clear over time, however, that this book does not suffice for a proper interpretation of collingwoods philosophy of history. To date the idea of history is the book collingwoods fame as a philosopher of history is primarily based upon. This important work examines how the idea of history has evolved from the time of herodotus to the twentieth century, and offers collingwoods own view of what history is. It was collingwoods wish that his posthumous papers should be judged. This is not surprising as the latter was also the result of a posthumous selection from the same nachla collingwood has an axe to grind, namely that history is signi. History february, 1952 collingwoods idea of history in 1947 the publication of r. The idea of history is the bestknown book of the great oxford philosopher, historian, and archaeologist r. Pdf6d4c0 the idea of history is the bestknown work of the great oxford philosopher, historian, and archaeologist r. Collingwoods the idea of history is arguably one of the most important books in the 20th century on history and the study of.
But though he meant eventually to make it a companion volume to the idea of nature, he was unfortunately unable to work on it any further. In my case this realization of a historical past must have come around the age of six. The idea of history is the best known work of the oxford philosopher and historian rg collingwood. Collingwood, who was both a professor of philosophy at oxford and a practicing historian, was engaged in what he intended as a major contribution to the. The original text of this uncompleted work has only recently been discovered and is accompanied here by shorter writings by collingwood on historical knowledge and inquiry. After several years of increasingly debilitating strokes collingwood died at coniston, lancashire, on 9 january 1943. It emerged as a sequel to the rise of scientific history which took place in the latter part of the nineteenth. The book begins at the point where collingwood believes the writing of history began.
It was originally published posthumously in 1946, having been. Collingwoods philosophy of mind and action is thus to be found in his philosophy of history, primarily in the idea of history 1946. During his career collingwood attempted to integrate and understand human experience and knowledge, and to bring together history and philosophy. Robin george collingwood stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. The author attempts to get at what exactly it means when refers to studying history and what the heck history is in the first place. The claim that history is the pdf study of mind is prima facie counterintuitive because many of us tend to think of history as a descriptive science of the past rather than as a normative science of thought. In 1940 he revised part of the 1936 manuscript, especially the section on greece and rome, and rechristened it the idea of history. Collingwoods idea of history caused a momentary flutter. Collingwood idea of history robin george collingwood, or r.
The problematic idea of reenactment actually opens up a complex connection in collingwoods thought between ethical action, historical time, and our relationship with divine reality. Also contains his important lectures on the philosophy of history. How, or on what conditions, can the historian know the past. This is not yet entirely manifest in whiteheads philosophy which is largely ahistorical because of a certain relic of positivism 176, but collingwood is confident that we go from the idea of. History is for human selfknowledgethe only clue to what man can do is what man has done. Collingwood, in full robin george collingwood, born february 22, 1889, cartmel fell, lancashire, englanddied january 9, 1943, coniston, lancashire, english historian and philosopher whose work provided a major 20thcentury attempt to reconcile philosophy and history deeply influenced by his father, a painter and archaeologist who was a friend and biographer of john ruskin. It refers also to an earlier passage from collingwoods essay croces philosophy of history. Collingwood, friend and biographer of john ruskin, educated him at home until he was old enough to enter rugby and imbued him with a ruskinian devotion to craftsmanship and art and an adult attitude toward scholarship. Published posthumously in 1946 it is, in effect, two books. Collingwood, the reenactment of history leiden university faculty of humanities.
Collingwood and weber vs university of south florida. The development and form of historical inquiry introduction history was long considered a somehow secondrate discipline, incapable of producing true knowledge like math or the hard sciences. Get the idea of history pdf file for free from our online library created date. During the 1950s and 1960s his philosophy of history in particular occupied. Unsubscribe from leiden university faculty of humanities. Extrapolating from these tendencies, collingwood summarizes the modern view of nature as one in which nature is seen in analogy to history.
Introduction to collingwoods philosophy of history. This important work examines how the idea of history has evolved from the time of herodotus to the twentieth century, and offers. However, there have been sharp disagreements about the acceptability of this idea, and even its meaning. Collingwoods the idea of history would be more correctly classified as a work of philosophy than a work of history, as the primary goal of the work is to present collingwoods philosophical conception of the nature of history. Collingwood 18891943 was a british philosopher and practising. Collingwood is seen as avoiding the pitfalls of hegels teleological historicism by. Published here for the first time is much of a final and longanticipated work on the philosophy of history by the great oxford philosopher and historian r. The torrent of discourse is assessed much like one might judge the capac ity for a radio. Collingwood argues eloquently that to understand past events we must understand the ideas, thoughts and motives behind them. Several thousand students have successfully passed through the course. All history is the history of thought is collingwoods main premise in the idea of history. It is not a chance product of psychological causes. Other articles where the idea of history is discussed.
Collingwood as he is more usually known, was waynefleet professor of metaphysical philosophy at oxford university from 1935 to 1941. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is. It is this rediscovery of collingwoods spiritual ideas on history that leads to a reevaluation. For this revised edition, collingwoods most important lectures. Rediscovering collingwoods spiritual history in and out. It is accompanied by further, shorter writings by collingwood on historical knowledge and inquiry, selected from previously unpublished. The claim that history is the study of mind is prima facie counterintuitive because many of us tend to think of history as a descriptive science of the past rather than as a normative science of thought. Collingwoods the idea of history clarendon press, 1946 is an essay in the philosophy of history. It had much overlap with the idea of history not only as to themes but also to large verbatim passages. Students look to collingwood for a history of thinking about history, and to discover his ideas about the nature of historical understanding. If we raise the question, of what can there be historical knowledge.
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