The Uses of a Historical History of Philosophy

2021 ◽  
pp. 124-136
Author(s):  
Michael Frede

This chapter identifies the uses of a historical history of philosophy. There is an inherent interest in this sort of study, but there also may be an external interest in it, which is perfectly legitimate as long as it does not interfere with the study itself. That is to say that, though it would be inappropriate to let one’s philosophical interests interfere with one’s historical study of the history of philosophy, it nevertheless is perfectly appropriate to see whether the results of this study can serve one’s philosophical interests. The chapter begins by considering briefly the inherent interest of this sort of study. One thing which this sort of study does for us is that it gives us a reliable picture of what philosophy actually, empirically, has been from its beginnings to the present day. Whatever philosophical views one may have as to what philosophy is, or should be, here we see what it actually is, or at least what it presents itself as from the enlightened perspective of the historian. As to the possible external interests, there are a great number of them, some of which the chapter lists before focusing on the interest of most concern to philosophers; namely, the possible philosophical usefulness of a historical study of the history of philosophy.

Problemos ◽  
2010 ◽  
pp. 18-27
Author(s):  
Gintaras Kabelka

Straipsnyje nagrinėjami Romano Plečkaičio filosofijos istorijos tyrimų metodologijos svarbiausi elementai: filosofijos istorijos kaip problemų sprendimų kaitos samprata – filosofiją sudaro nuolat kintantys problemų sprendimai; problema yra ir tyrimo prieiga, tyrimo medžiagą konceptualiai struktūruojantis veiksnys; probleminės situacijos (istoriniu momentu susiklosčiusi teorinių elementų konsteliacija, lemianti naujos teorijos sukūrimą) istorinė rekonstrukcija; objektyvaus istorinio supratimo prieiga, kuri filosofiją traktuoja kaip objektyviai ir visuotinai galiojančių žinojimo elementų visumą. Plečkaitis kuria filosofijos pažangios raidos vaizdinį, kurį papildo paradigmų kaitos elementais: radikalus problemų sprendimų pokytis vaizduojamas kaip visiškai naujos probleminės situacijos susiformavimas. Ši traktuojama kaip paradigminė, lemianti visus kitus problemų sprendimo būdus.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: Plečkaitis, problemų istorijos metodologija, probleminė situacija, objektyvus istorinis supratimas.R. Plečkaitis’ Methodology of Historical-Philosophical ResearchGintaras Kabelka SummaryThe article analyzes the methodology of Romanas Plečkaitis’ research, in which the most important ele-ments are: the conception of the history of philosophy as a process of transformation of philosophical problems, which initiates the historical study and provides the material and structures of the interpreta-tion of results; the historical reconstruction of the problematic situation as a constellation of theoretical elements motivating the creation of a new theory; the objective historical understanding, which treats philosophy as the totality of objectively and universally functioning cognitional elements and excludes from the interpretation of the history of philosophy all subjective and metaphysical factors. The picture of progress of philosophy presented in the works of Plečkaitis involves the elements of paradigm shifts. He presents the radical modification of the solution of problems as the formation of a new problematic situation, which is regarded as paradigmatic for the solution of other remaining problems. Keywords: Plečkaitis, methodology of history of problems, problematic situation, objective historical understanding   ine-height: 18px;"> 


2021 ◽  
pp. 172-188
Author(s):  
Charles Brittain

This chapter examines the doxographical, philosophical, and historical forms of the history of philosophy. The aim of doxography is to reconstruct and present philosophical views or positions that have been proposed in the past and to do so in a way that makes clear the interest they may retain for contemporary philosophical discussions. However, the inadequacy of ancient doxographical writers seems so great that the term ‘doxography’ itself has acquired a pejorative connotation. The criticism is twofold: first, one has the feeling that the ancient doxographers did not have historical awareness or a sensitivity to history; second, one tends to associate doxography with a kind of philosophical failure. People then abandoned the assumption that the positions of the past retain their philosophical importance in the contemporary context. In its place, they began to suppose that the views of the past were only of interest as stages, even if necessary ones, of the evolution of thought. This sort of history represents the philosophical study of the history of philosophy. It is precisely this philosophical position which, towards the middle of the nineteenth century, provokes a reaction. But this reaction takes two very different forms. On the one hand, it gives rise to the historical study of the history of philosophy and, on the other, to a modern form of doxography.


Migration and Modernities recovers a comparative literary history of migration by bringing together scholars from the US and Europe to explore the connections between migrant experiences and the uneven emergence of modernity. The collection initiates transnational, transcultural and interdisciplinary conversations about migration in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, demonstrating how mobility unsettles the geographic boundaries, temporal periodization, and racial categories we often use to organize literary and historical study. Migrants are by definition liminal, and many have existed historically in the spaces between nations, regions or ethnicities. In exploring these spaces, Migration and Modernities also investigates the origins of current debates about belonging, rights, and citizenship. Its chapters traverse the globe, revealing the experiences — real or imagined — of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century migrants, from dispossessed Native Americans to soldiers in South America, Turkish refugees to Scottish settlers. They explore the aesthetic and rhetorical frameworks used to represent migrant experiences during a time when imperial expansion and technological developments made the fortunes of some migrants and made exiles out of others. These frameworks continue to influence the narratives we tell ourselves about migration today and were crucial in producing a distinctively modern subjectivity in which mobility and rootlessness have become normative.


Author(s):  
Galen Strawson ◽  
Galen Strawson

John Locke's theory of personal identity underlies all modern discussion of the nature of persons and selves—yet it is widely thought to be wrong. This book argues that in fact it is Locke's critics who are wrong, and that the famous objections to his theory are invalid. Indeed, far from refuting Locke, they illustrate his fundamental point. The book argues that the root error is to take Locke's use of the word “person” as merely a term for a standard persisting thing, like “human being.” In actuality, Locke uses “person” primarily as a forensic or legal term geared specifically to questions about praise and blame, punishment and reward. This point is familiar to some philosophers, but its full consequences have not been worked out, partly because of a further error about what Locke means by the word “consciousness.” When Locke claims that your personal identity is a matter of the actions that you are conscious of, he means the actions that you experience as your own in some fundamental and immediate manner. Clearly and vigorously argued, this is an important contribution both to the history of philosophy and to the contemporary philosophy of personal identity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-382
Author(s):  
Juan Pedro Sánchez Méndez

"Notes for the History of a Phraseology of American Spanish. This paper presents the characteristics that would define the historical Hispano-American phraseology as opposed to the European Spanish one. Phraseology is one of the areas in which the greatest variation is perceived among the different Hispanic countries. In this paper I will try to point out the main historical foundations that would explain this variation and the characteristics assumed by what we call the indian or colonial phraseology. This would be the origin of what today we can consider a phraseological Americanism, which presents some characteristics that allow establishing its historical study differentiated from the European Spanish and justifies the necessary diastematic vision of the general historical phraseology of the Spanish language. Keywords: history of American Spanish, historical Hispano-American phraseology, phraseological Americanism, Indian or colonial phraseology. "


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