Philip P. Wiener, general editor. Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Studies of Selected Pivotal Ideas. Volume 1, Abstraction in the Formation of Concepts to Design Argument; volume 2, Despotism to Law, Common; volume 3, Law, Concept of, to Protest Movement; volume 4, Psychological Ideas in Antiquity to Zeitgeist. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1973. Pp. xxxi, 677; 696; 677; 537. $35.00 each

1974 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Design Argument ◽  
Protest Movement ◽  
General Editor ◽  
History Of

Louis Menand: The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America. 2001. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 546 pp.

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-204
Author(s):  
Lance Kenney
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Cold War ◽  
William James ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Cultural Impact ◽  
Oliver Wendell Holmes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Charles Peirce ◽  
The Cold War

Louis Menand’s The Metaphysical Club, daunting in its choice of subject matter, closely aligns itself with the ancient sense of the word ‘history’ as a fluid, almost epic narrative. The Metaphysical Club of the title was a conversation group that met in Cambridge for a few months in 1872. Its membership roster listed some of the greatest intellectuals of the day: Charles Peirce, William James, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Chauncey Wright, amongst others. There is no record of the Club’s discussions or debates—in fact, the only direct reference to the Club is made by Peirce in a letter written thirty-five years later. Menand utilizes the Club as a jumping-off point for a sweeping analysis of the beliefs of the day. The subtitle of the book belies its true mission: ‘a story of ideas in America.’ Menand discusses the intellectual and social conditions that helped shape these men by the time they were members of the Club. He then shows the philosophical, political, and cultural impact that these men went on to have. In doing so, Menand traces a history of ideas in the United States from immediately prior to the Civil War to the beginning of the Cold War.

Inventing “Little Italy”

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna R. Gabaccia
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Dime Novels ◽  
Police Reporting ◽  
Rapid Spread ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Methodologies ◽  
The Moment ◽  
New Yorkers ◽  
Little Italy

Digitized texts open new methodologies for explorations of the history of ideas. This paper locates the invention of the term “Little Italy” in New York in the 1880s and explores its rapid spread through print and popular culture from police reporting to fictional portraits of slumming and then into adolescent dime novels and early film representations. New Yorkers invented “Little Italy” but they long disagreed with urban tourists about its exact location. Still, from the moment of its origin, both visitors and natives of New York associated Little Italy with entertainment, spectacle, and the search for “safe danger.” While the location of Little Italy changed over time, such associations with pleasure and crime have persisted, even as the neighborhood emptied of its immigrant residents.

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