Philosophy of History: An Introduction

by William Henry Walsh

Preface
What Is Philosophy of History?
History & the Sciences
Historical Explanation
Truth & Face in History
Can History Be Objective?
Speculative Philosophy of History: Kant & Herder
Speculative Philosophy of History: Hegel
Some Further Writers
The Limits of Scientific History
Historical Causation
Note on Books for Further Reading
Index

Genres: Philosophy, History, Nonfiction

215 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

Reviews

[CM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This small volume is a reprint of the first English textbook in 1958 on the subject, which happens to be,surprisingly, an engaging read. It's a wide-ranging text of two strands of idea. The first one is the critical study of the historical method itself with subjects like the relationship between history and science, truth and fact in history, objectivity in history and the historical explanation. The second half is a discussion of various philosophers' works (those of Kant, Hegel, Comte, Marx and Toynbee) on the metaphysical side of the method, concerning the law, the shape and the purpose of history.

It's more engaging than other textbook as here different schools of thought are given nuanced discussion on their strength and weaknesses. Main arguments, criticisms and defenses are presented in a clear structure that most lay readers can follow (with conscious effort, this is still philosophy). It also reminds me of what a good philosophy text can do: it can create an illusion of discussing certain idea with a learned scholar. The discussion on other philosophers in the second half is shorter but clearly more ...passionately written. (A phrase I won't forget: "the disadvantage of having a singularly muddled intellect")

Given it's not my first text on this subject, I can say it still is, if only for the first half, relevant after all these years. But an interested reader may want to begin this subject with Carr's What Is History?, the transcript of a series of lively lectures which is still read and discussed today. Readers who want to understand the Kantian ,or Hegelian, view of history will find the second half a helpful summary of the field.

[anet]

my dream future is fr teaching a theory of history course that no one else wanted to teach<3 wasn't exactly a fun read, but I live for Walsh's backhanded comments about Toynbee:

"Toynbee is no doubt less of a pioneer than he seems to imagine, but he deserves credit for pioneering all the same. His results here are, in any case, likely in my view to prove more substantial than anything he has accomplished as a speculative philosopher of history, where the advantages of his vivid imagination can scarcely outweigh the disadvantage of having a singularly muddled intellect." ahh

[Gabriel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro recomendable a todo aquel fanático de la historia que quiera aspirar a ser un verdadero historiador. Contrario a lo que el autor dice en el prólogo, encuentro este libro más interesante para los historiadores que para los filósofos, pues aporta una visión introductoria a problemas que cualquier historiador se deberá enfrentar a lo largo de su carrera.

[G0thamite · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in May 1976. Need to re-read. It's that good.

[Leonardo]

Filosofía de la Historia. Unidad 1.