The Ethical Presupposition of Historical Understanding

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-241
Author(s):  
Natan Elgabsi
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Method ◽  
Historical Understanding ◽  
Historical Science ◽  
Ethical Attitudes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Annales School ◽  
Ways Of Life

Abstract Discussions on Marc Bloch usually focus on The Annales School, his comparative method, or his defence of a distinct historical science. In contrast, I emphasise his seldom-investigated ideas of what historical understanding should involve. I contend that Bloch distinguishes between three different ethical attitudes in studying people and ways of life from the past: scientific passivity; critical judgements; understanding. The task of the historian amounts to understanding other worlds in their own terms. This essay is an exploration of Bloch’s methodology and what historical understanding is needed to do justice to cultures that belong to the past, both conceptually and practically.

scholarly journals Body pedagogics, culture and the transactional case of Vélo worlds

2021 ◽  
pp. 136843102199664
Author(s):  
Chris Shilling
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Cultural Transmission ◽  
The Body ◽  
Knowing How ◽  
Significant Growth ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cognitive Information ◽  
Sociological Studies ◽  
Ways Of Life

During the past two decades, there has been a significant growth of sociological studies into the ‘body pedagogics’ of cultural transmission, reproduction and change. Rejecting the tendency to over-valorise cognitive information, these investigations have explored the importance of corporeal capacities, habits and techniques in the processes associated with belonging to specific ‘ways of life’. Focused on practical issues associated with ‘knowing how’ to operate within specific cultures, however, body pedagogic analyses have been less effective at accounting for the incarnation of cultural values. Addressing this limitation, with reference to the radically diverse norms involved historically and contemporarily in ‘vélo worlds’, I develop Dewey’s pragmatist transactionalism by arguing that the social, material and intellectual processes involved in learning physical techniques inevitably entail a concurrent entanglement with, and development of, values.

scholarly journals PHILOSOPHICAL STUDY ON AKE SANTOSA MYTH IN TERNATE COMMUNITY LIFE

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Dounald R ◽  
Rika Nugraha
Keyword(s):  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Philosophical Study ◽  
Ultimate Truth ◽  
User Community ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Visual Objects ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
Ways Of Life

Myth is a form of education about the essence of morality and ways of life in society. Myth is not just a fairy tale without the essence of the message / philosophy in it, but the myth is the most effective way of delivering teachings and guidance about the ultimate truth. With this research it can become a place for scientific studies in understanding philosophies for the user community or for readers of the research. In its development, the people of North Maluku saw the myth of Ake Santosa only as a story / saga of the past in the name of culture. But there are also those who instill the myth of Ake Santosa as a truth which in fact actually dominates the system of thinking and forming the characteristics of the user community, especially the indigenous people in Ternate. So that the formation of dualism of views, this is feared to change the values of the message / philosophy which is the teachings and guidance for the community. So we need a scientific study, which is able to become a form of method in seeing or dissecting the philosophical meaning of a myth that exists in society. The application of the theory of transfiguration began with literature and literature studies related to the myth of Ake Santosa in Ternate society in North Maluku and became primary data. Then developed through a visual study approach. Furthermore, this final data is then analyzed and transferred into the form of visual objects that give rise to other meanings of the myth itself.

Historiographical facts and political practice in Russia in the XVIII – beginning of the XXI centuries

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Г.Н. Ланской
Keyword(s):  
Control Strategies ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Historical Science ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Past ◽  
And Control ◽  
Coordination And Control ◽  
Development And Evolution

Статья посвящена истории связи между развитием исторической науки и политической практики в России. В контексте этого развития представлены, с одной стороны, эволюция исторических исследований и их координации и, с другой стороны, трансформация подхода институциональных структур государства к выбору управленческой стратегии в руководстве работой историков. В качестве примера для исследования обозначенной проблемы выбран период с начала XVIII до начала XXI века, потому что в его рамках была сформирована практика профессиональной деятельности в сфере историографии как процесса человеческой деятельности. Особое внимание в статье адресовано к роли идеологии в формировании различных моделей связи между работой историков и политических деятелей по конструированию образа прошлого, настоящего и будущего развития российской истории. The article reveals the connection between the historical science development and evolution of political practice in Russia.In that context shown are the course of the historical research and the coordination and control strategies implemented by the state, including institutional transformations.As a subject of current research was taken the period from the XVIII – beginning of the XXI centuries, when historiography became a profession and was institutionalized.Special attention is driven to the role of ideology in adopting different models of interaction between historians and political actors, while framing the image of the past, the present and the future of Russia.

scholarly journals Looking beyond the idyllic representations of the rural: The Konkan Railway controversy and middle-class environmentalism in India

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Sreeja Jaiswal
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Environmental Values ◽  
Historical Understanding ◽  
Environmental Preservation ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Environmental Controversy ◽  
Environmental Discourses

Post-independence India has had its share of controversies around mega-infrastructure projects that have pitted environmental preservation against development concerns. This article studies the environmental controversy around one such megaproject, the Konkan Railway, employing a framework that integrates the environmental values, beliefs and behaviour of individuals and groups with a historical understanding of political economy and ecology (science). Essentialist and over-simplified environmental discourses, without scientific credibility and not based on historical facts, are often influential in policy making, especially when channelled by the middle classes.  Better understanding our present concerns and guiding decisions and policies to deal with the problems we currently face, requires unmasking the romanticization of the countryside. We must replace the idyllic version of the past with a nuanced historical understanding of the interaction between nature and culture. This article also locates the controversy over the Konkan Railway within the frames used to study Indian environmentalism. The aim is to improve our understanding of the regional, ideological and cultural pluralities in environmental values, beliefs and behaviour of the middle class in India.

Measuring Democracy

2014 ◽  
pp. 426-452
Author(s):  
Célestin Monga
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Method ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Real Problem ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Political Ethics ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Press ◽  
Comparative Theory

Despite increased academic and media interest in the continent and the intensity of the sociopolitical and administrative changes that have occurred in the past twenty-five years, analyses published in the press and by scholars are generally incomplete. Beyond the traditional dispute between “universalists” (theorists of a general model of liberal democracy to which all countries are expected to conform) and “relativists” (advocates of the sovereignty of individual cultural identities), the real problem lies in the inability of social scientists to develop a comparative method that is at once valid and acceptable to all. Rejecting the purely normative approach to political ethics that dominates the debate on democracy, this chapter uses an economic approach to advance a comparative theory of the notion of political well-being. It proposes a measurement index whose different components take into account both the viewpoint of universalists on human rights and the perspective of relativists on political utility.

Reptiles: A Very Short Introduction

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
Dry Land ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Reptile Species ◽  
Living Species ◽  
Over Exploitation ◽  
Ways Of Life

Reptiles: A Very Short Introduction introduces the extraordinary diversity of reptiles that have walked the Earth, from the dinosaurs and other reptiles of the past to modern-day living species. It discusses the adaptations reptiles made to first leave the water and colonize dry land, which fitted them for their unique ways of life. Considering the variety of different living groups of reptiles today, from lizards and snakes to crocodiles and turtles, it explores their biology and behaviour. Finally, this VSI assesses the threat of extinction to modern-day reptile species due to over-exploitation, habitat destruction, and climate change, and considers what can be done.

Historical Understanding in China and the West

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-95
Author(s):  
Philip J. Ivanhoe
Keyword(s):  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Historical Understanding ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Late Qing Dynasty ◽  
The West ◽  
Chinese Philosopher ◽  
Late Qing ◽  
The Past ◽  
Independent Field ◽  
Distinctive Type

Abstract This essay describes and compares three attempts to provide accounts of the nature of historical consciousness, along with accompanying explanations of how one comes to have historical knowledge. It explores, compares, and contrasts the views of the late Qing dynasty Chinese philosopher Zhang Xuecheng 章學誠 (1738–1801) and two Western philosophers – R.G. Collingwood (1889–1943) and Louis O. Mink (1921–83). These three thinkers all present historical understanding as a distinctive type of knowledge and share the aim of defending the discipline of history as a special, independent field of intellectual endeavor. Aside from analyzing these aspects of their respective theories, this essay aims to stimulate extensive and nuanced comparisons between Chinese and more recent Western forms of historical consciousness. While the comparison presented here is but one way forward, it not only seeks to offer specific insights generated by the comparative project but also to set forth a range of themes worthy of future study. For example, the analysis presented here shows that Zhang’s reflections on how historians relate to the past can contribute to current discussions of epistemic virtues.

scholarly journals Transformations of historical events and facts assessments in the context of socio-cultural influence of modernity

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-329
Author(s):  
Anastasiya Georgievna Ippolitova
Keyword(s):  
Modern Society ◽  
Value Orientations ◽  
Historical Science ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Organic Part ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
The Past ◽  
Transformational Process ◽  
Historical Periods

The paper shows the transformation of attitudes towards historical events, facts and personalities due to the influence of the thinking paradigms of the modern socio-cultural environment. Objectivity of historical science is a moving thing, because history itself is an organic part of culture, reflecting in its interpretations its mentality and value orientations important for society at a certain period of time. The historical process is a lively cultural stream, filled with unique signs and symbols, ways of demonstration in culture. Modernity determines the attitude of society to the historical process, the importance of personalities and their popularity. Here the historical assessment becomes a reflection of modern realities. We cannot fully feel the influence of the historical character, we can just imagine. We try on the images of the past, fantasize a bit, we give emotions and feelings, including the subjectivity of perception of historical events in modern times. The society draws historical parallels, evaluates the past from the standpoint of the paradigm of thinking that it understands, which leads to the transformation of historical assessments in different historical periods. All of the above, of course, is characteristic of the transformational process of national history, as shown in a number of examples. They reflect the interpretation characteristic of modern society rather than the position of the author. Particular attention is paid to the assessment of the Great Patriotic War, which is necessary to remember to strengthen the unity of the society and to broadcast patriotic values.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document