Synopses & Reviews
Published here for the first time is much of a final and long-anticipated work on the philosophy of history by the great Oxford philosopher and historian R. G. Collingwood (1889-1943). The original text of this uncompleted work has only recently been discovered and is accompanied here by Collingwood's shorter writings on historical knowledge and inquiry. Besides containing entirely new ideas, these incredible writings discuss many of the issues which Collingwood famously raised in The Idea of History and in his Autobiography. This book also includes two conclusions written by Collingwood, which were eventually revised and published as The Idea of Nature. and a lengthy editorial introduction that puts Collingwood's writings in their context and discusses the philosophical questions they initiate. A landmark publication, this work will appeal not only to those studying Collingwood but also to anyone broadly curious about philosophy of history.
Synopsis
Published here for the first time is much of a final and long-anticipated work on the philosophy of history by the great Oxford philosopher and historian R. G. Collingwood (1889-1943). The original text of this uncompleted work has only recently been discovered and is accompanied here by Collingwood's shorter writings on historical knowledge and inquiry. Besides containing entirely new ideas, these incredible writings discuss many of the issues which Collingwood famously raised in The Idea of History and in his Autobiography. This book also includes two conclusions written by Collingwood, which were eventually revised and published as The Idea of Nature. and a lengthy editorial introduction that puts Collingwood's writings in their context and discusses the philosophical questions they initiate. A landmark publication, this work will appeal not only to those studying Collingwood but also to anyone broadly curious about philosophy of history.
About the Author
R. G. Collingwood was Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy in the University of Oxford from 1935 to 1941.
W. H. Dray is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Ottawa; he has held visiting appointments at Toronto, Harvard, Stanford, and Duke Universities, among others.
W. J. van der Dussen is Professor of Humanities at the Open University of the Netherlands.
Table of Contents
Editors' Introduction; PART I: THE PRINCIPLES OF HISTORY: Introduction to Book I; 1. Evidence; 2. Action; 3. Nature and Action; 4. The Past; History and Philosophy; PART II: ESSAYS AND NOTES ON PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY 1933-1939: Notes towards a Metaphysic; History as the Understanding of the Present; Inaugural: Rough Notes; Reality as History; Can Historians be Impartial? Notes on the History of Historiography and Philosophy of History; Notes on Historiography; Conclusions to Lectures on Nature and Mind; Bibliography; Index.