The Philosophy Of History In Our Time: An Anthology

by Hans Meyerhoff (Editor)

The Philosophy of History in Our Time An Anthology

Genres: Philosophy, History

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

Reviews

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Philosophy of History in our Time is a 1960s era look at historicism, filled with essays from various historians that fall up and down the line on the "historicist" critique of history as a discipline.

The essential problem to be overcome, as some historicans see it, is that teaching any particular history involves the process of selection of what events to teach, and that selection inevitably means bias. Similar problems plague the other social sciences as well, leading to the never ending qualitative/quantitative debate, or whether we should consider social science to be more art or science. This book is full of readable, short-ish essays that more or less get to the heart of the matter, and let a reader shed some light on the contours of the arguments for either side.

Meyerhoff as editor does a decent job of highlighting what to look for in the individual essays, and succeeds in not being heavy handed in his own views.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A COLLECTION OF "RECENT" (as of 1959) WRITINGS ON THIS SUBJECT

Editor Hans Meyerhoff (born 1914) was a German-born professor of history at the University of California. This 1959 collection contains selections from the works of philosophers such as Croce, Ortega y Gasset, Collingwood, Toynbee, Dewey, Nagel, Burckhardt, Popper, etc. Meyerhoff wrote an Introduction, and includes a very useful introductory section to each excerpt, as well.

He notes in the Introduction, "we do not find anywhere in the ancient world a philosophy of history---either in the speculative sense... or in the analytic sense." (Pg. 1) He adds, "Historicism opens a new chapter in the study of history... The basic thesis of historicism is quite simple: the subject matter of history is human life in its totality and multiplicity. It is the historian's aim to portray the bewildering, unsystematic variety of historical forms... in the process of continuous growth and transformation." (Pg. 10)

An essay by Charles Beard states, "The philosopher, possessing little or no acquaintance with history, sometimes pretends to expound the inner secret of history, but the historian turns upon him and expounds the secret of the philosopher... by placing him in relation to the movement of ideas and interests in which he stands or floats, by giving to his scheme of thought its appropriate relativity." (Pg. 140) He later adds, "only three broad conceptions of all history as actuality are possible. History is chaos and every attempt to interpret it otherwise is an illusion. History moves around in a kind of cycle. History moves in a line, straight or spiral, and in some direction. The historian may seek to escape these issues... or he may face them boldly, aware of the intellectual and moral perils inherent in any decision---in his act of faith." (Pg. 151)

John Dewey's selection argues, "All historical construction is necessarily selective. This principle ... it is of importance because its acknowledgement compels attention to the fact that everything in the writing of history depends upon the principle used to control selection." (Pg. 167)

W.H. Walsh's essay says, "I suggest that the main factors which actually make for disagreement among historians may be grouped under the following four heads. First, personal likes and dislikes... Secondly, prejudices or... assumptions he makes... Thirdly, conflicting theories of historical interpretation... Fourthly, basically different moral beliefs, conceptions of the nature of man..." (Pg. 216)

Though more than 65 years old, this collection is still of considerable value to anyone studying the philosophy of history.

[Jeffrey Romine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Historical interpretations differ even when the experts agree on the facts." This sentence sums up the essence of the book. Worldviews, political leanings, biases, agendas and more all affect the retelling of past events. It's a buyer-beware world out there. Yet, it's better to be informed than uninformed, so readers must press on. One solution is to know the mindset of the historian your reading, another is to read multiple historians and hopefully get a well-rounded perspective.

[Mark]

For those interested in the study of history and the practice of historiography, this book contains vital material. Unfortunately, Mr. Meyerhoff's editing mars by omission some of the more important passages, which leaves something to be desired. Nonetheless, this is worth a look; it can be read at intervals--which is good, because one does not need to commit to the book all at once, and can take time to consider the arguments. On the other hand, this is a book quite easy to put aside and forget about--which is why it took me several weeks to finish it.