The Muse of History and the Science of CultureSpringer Science & Business Media, 2000 M04 30 - 307 pages Is history more than (in Boswell's words) a `chronological series of remarkable events'? Does it have a pattern? Is it fraught with `meaning'? Can we discern its trends? What determines its course? In short, can a substantial and coherent philosophy of history be devised that offers answers to these questions? These issues, which have intrigued -and bedeviled - historians for centuries, are explored in this thoughtful book. |
Contents
A BONE | 1 |
THE CHANGING FACES OF HISTORY | 13 |
THE THORNY THICKETS OF HISTORY | 47 |
WHAT DRIVES THE ENGINE OF HISTORY? RACE | 83 |
THE GREAT MAN AND IDEAS AS PRIME MOVERS | 109 |
How To TURN HISTORY INTO SCIENCE | 145 |
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A. L. Rowse actions Alison anthropologists appear argued attempt Becker believe British historian Butterfield called Carlyle causal causes chapter Charles Cheyney chiefdoms civilization conception course of history culture process declared determinism discover economic Edward Engels English evolutionary example existence expressed fact feudalism forces formulate French historian Fritz Stern G. R. Elton genius George Burton Adams German happened Harry Elmer Barnes Henry Herbert Butterfield Herbert Spencer historians historical events historical laws human history ideas individual invention James Harvey Robinson John Kingsley later law of culture laws of history Leopold von Ranke Macaulay Marx ment merely mind moral Napoleon nations nature Newton nineteenth century particular past phenomena philosophy of history political quoted race regarded Revolution rians role scientific law scientists social science society sociology Spencer theory things thought tion tory Toynbee traits Trevelyan turn Universal History Voltaire writing wrote Zilsel