scholarly journals R.W. Emerson's Views on the Nature of Historical Knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol IV (4) ◽  
pp. 79-112
Author(s):  
Pavel Rakitin
Keyword(s):  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Lord's Supper ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
Covenant Theology ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Training And Education ◽  
Spiritual Training ◽  
The 19Th Century

In his moral philosophy of transcendentalism the American essayist, lecturer and poet R.W. Emerson (1803–1882) reflected the quest of a whole generation of American intellectuals for a new spirituality in the first half of the 19th century. Rooted in the heritage of Protestant faith and culture, like many of his ancestors for two centuries, Emerson received spiritual training and education and began his ministry as a pastor of one of the oldest parishes in Boston. However, later, in the course of spiritual and philosophical inquiries, he changed both his worldview and the nature of his creative activity. Emerson evolved from being a pastor for a local community to a popular lecturer to mass audiences across America's cities and states. Considering this change, the paper traces the genesis of R.W. Emerson's historical epistemology as it developed from his early writings (sermons and notebooks, including correspondence) towards his lectures and essays. We start by discussing the interest of Nietzsche in historical ideas of Emerson, identify the points at which their concepts diverge in their attitude towards doctrines of Christianity. We immerse Emerson's perceptions of history in the context of covenant theology, the meaning of Lord's Supper and the nature of Christ as expressed in the opinions of the ministers of Congregational and Unitarian Churches in Massachusetts. Special attention is paid to Emerson's concept of history denying Gospel events as the centre of the world's history and implying a possibility for an authentic and credible reenactment of historical events within the subjective experience of an individual. The analysis involves the essay History, Sermons No.5 and No.162, the Lectures on the Gospels and on the Philosophy of History.

Teaching the Moral Analysis of Policy Issues

1983 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Douglas Amy
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
College Experience ◽  
College President ◽  
Ethical Sensitivity ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
College Curriculum ◽  
Meaning And Purpose ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Senior Students

“Throughout most of the 19th century the most important course in the college curriculum was moral philosophy, taught usually by the college president and required of all senior students. The moral philosophy course was regarded as the capstone of the curriculum. It aimed to pull together, to integrate, and to give meaning and purpose to the student's entire college experience and course of study. In so doing it even more importantly sought to equip the graduating seniors with the ethical sensitivity and insight needed in order to put their newly acquired knowledge to use in ways that would benefit not only themselves and their own personal achievement, but the larger society as well.” Douglas Sloan

Book Reviews: Studies in Sociology, Race Mixture, Hunger and Work in a Savage Tribe, Interpretations, 1931–1932, Faith, Hope and Charity in Primitive Religion, Genetic Principles in Medicine and Social Science, The Reorganisation of Education in China, Social Decay and Eugenical Reform, The Social and Political Ideas of Some Representative Thinkers of the Revolutionary Era, L. T. Hobhouse, His Life and Work, Corner of England, World Agriculture—An International Study, Small-Town Stuff, Methods of Social Study, Does History Repeat Itself? The New Morality, Culture and Progress, Language and Languages: An Introduction to Linguistics, The Theory of Wages, The Santa Clara Valley, California, Social Psychology, A History of Fire and Flame, Sin and New Psychology, Sociology and Education, Mental Subnormality and the Local Community: Am Outline or a Practical Program, Tyneside Council op Social Service, Reconstruction and Education in Rural India, The Contribution of the English Le Play School to Rural Sociology, Kagami Kenkyu Hokoku, President's, Pioneer Settlement: Co-Operative Studies, Birth Control and Public Health, Pioneer Settlement: Co-Operative Studies, Ourselves and the World: The Making of an American Citizen, The Emergence of the Social Sciences from Moral Philosophy, The Comparable Interests of the Old Moral Philosophy and the Modern Social Sciences, The World in Agony, Sheffield Social Survey Committee, Housing Problems in Liverpool, Council for the Preservation of Rural England, Forest Land Use in Wisconsin, The Growth Cycle of the Farm Family, The Farmer's Guide to Agricultural Research in 1931, A History of the Public Library Movement in Great Britain and Ireland, The Retirement of National Debts, Public and Private Operation of Railways in Brazil, The Indian Minorities Problem, The Meaning of the Manchurian Crisis, The Drama of the Kingdom, Social Psychology, Competition in the American Tobacco Industry, New York School Centers and Their Community Policy, Desertion of Alabama Troops from the Confederate Army, Plans for City Police Jails and Village Lockups

1933 ◽  
Vol a25 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-109
Author(s):  
R. R. Marbtt ◽  
E. E. Evans-Pritchard ◽  
E. O. Jambs ◽  
Florence Ayscough ◽  
C. H. Desch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Psychology ◽  
Moral Philosophy ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Public Library ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pioneer Settlement

scholarly journals The Science of Stories:  Human History and the  Narrative Philosophy of Science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Robert Alexander Hurley
Keyword(s):  
Laws Of Nature ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
Human History ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Body Of Knowledge ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
Geological Sciences ◽  
Literary Narrative ◽  
Direct Use

<p>There is a pronounced tendency within contemporary philosophy of history to think of historical knowledge as something apart from the kind of knowledge generated in the sciences. This has given rise to a myriad of epistemological issues. For if historical knowledge is not related to the scientific, then what is it? By what logic does it proceed? How are historical conclusions justified? Although almost the entirety of contemporary philosophy of history has been dedicated to such questions, there has been little real and agreed upon progress. Rather than fire yet another salvo in this rhetorical war, however, this thesis wishes instead to examine what lies beneath the basic presumption of separatism which animates it. Part One examines several paradigmatic examples of twentieth century philosophy of history in order to identify the grounds by which their authors considered history fundamentally different in kind from the sciences. It is concluded that, in each case, the case for separatism fows from the pervasive assumption that any body of knowledge which might rightly be called a science can be recognised by its search for general laws of nature. As history does not seem to share this aim, it is therefore considered to be knowledge of a fundamentally different kind. This thesis terms this the "nomothetic assumption." Part Two argues that such nomothetic assumptions are not an accurate representation of either scientific theory or practice and therefore that any assumption of separatism based upon them is unsound. To do this, examples of acknowledged scientific problems from the biological and geological sciences which do not involve the use of general laws are examined, with the aim of discovering how these historical disciplines are able to do the work of explanation in their absence. They do so, it is concluded, through a mechanism of epistemic (as opposed to literary) narrative. Having thus identified how historical sciences proceed without making direct use of laws, Part Two then generalises this model of scientific narrative and shows how it can be used to model existing practices in human history. This conclusion has far-reaching consequences, for it brings a single definition, method, and logic of confirmation to all studies of the past – whether traditionally acknowledged as scientific or historical. Thus all historical enquiries proceed by a common logic and by a common method. This effectively and definitively places human history among the sciences, without the need for the kind of radical transformation past attempts to do this have required.</p>

Baptist Worship in Britain

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Lord's Supper ◽  
Free Church ◽  
Radical Reformation ◽  
Evangelistic Preaching ◽  
The Holy Spirit ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Hymn Singing ◽  
Evangelical Theology ◽  
The Church

Baptists stand within the Free Church and Evangelical traditions. They baptize only those who profess personal faith, and they also give a high priority to evangelism. Although there is some variety around the world in this the fifth-largest Christian denomination, the main features of Baptist worship developed in Britain, where the Baptist story began. Emerging from the Radical Reformation at the beginning of the 17th century, British Baptists formed two main groups, each holding Calvinistic or Arminian theology, respectively. Both emphasized an ecclesiology in which the church was perceived to be a fellowship of believers and each rejected the baptism of infants. By the 19th century, most British Baptists held a common, though varied, evangelical theology, and this continues to characterize this denomination. The importance of scriptural preaching, extempore prayer, and the emergence of congregational hymn singing are all continuing features of Baptist worship. The core aspects of Baptist spirituality can be seen in their worship, including giving due attention to scripture and its relevant application for the life and witness of the church; the importance of the devotional life and an openness to the Holy Spirit, as seen in extempore prayer; emphasis on the church as a fellowship of believers, as expressed in the communal nature of the Eucharist celebrated as the Lord’s Supper; and the importance of personal faith and the mission of the church, embodied in the baptism of believers and evangelistic preaching.

The Methodistical way: Revivalism and popular resistance to the Wesleyan Church discipline in the Stanstead Circuit, Lower Canada, 1821-52

2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-194
Author(s):  
J.I. Little
Keyword(s):  
Local Community ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Religious Revival ◽  
Church Discipline ◽  
Popular Resistance ◽  
Lower Canada ◽  
The Face ◽  
Wesleyan Church ◽  
The 19Th Century

This essay examines the dynamic between the British Wesleyan missionaries and the American-origin population of the Stanstead Circuit within Lower Canada's Eastern Townships. It finds that early revivals were followed by years of slow church growth and stagnation as the missionaries were unable, or unwilling, to develop the lay leadership network that was a central feature of the Methodist system. By the middle of the 19th century, attempts to impose the church discipline on the local population had made relatively little progress in the face of the Rebellions of 1837-38, the Millerite religious revival, the incursion of radical Methodist splinter groups, and ongoing popular resistance to an externally dictated denominational exclusivism that posed a threat to local community bonds.

The Concept of Man as Presupposed by the Historical Studies

1970 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 14-31
Author(s):  
P. L. Gardiner
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Historical Thinking ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
General Context ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Historical Thought

I should like to begin by removing a misconception to which the title of this lecture may possibly give rise. My concern is not with general propositions regarding certain fairly well-attested human characteristics of the kind to which historians may, from time to time, advert in the course of their work or to which they may appeal in support of the account provided of some particular event or occurrence. I am not myself an historian, and for me to make ex cathedra pronouncements on such topics as these might well seem to constitute an unjustifiable intrusion upon a field about which I am not qualified professionally to speak. My subject lies within the sphere of philosophy of history rather than of history proper; it belongs, in other words, to a branch of philosophical inquiry, and as such relates, not to empirical facts and events of the sort to which the practising historian addresses himself, but to those assumptions, categories and modes of procedure that are, or are believed to be, intrinsic to historical thought and discourse. In this general context I wish to discuss two approaches to the problem of elucidating the character of historical knowledge and explanation. Both of the approaches I have in mind have achieved a considerable measure of support at the present time; they have also been widely understood as offering profoundly divergent — indeed, diametrically opposed — views of what is central to the structure of historical thinking and to the type of activity upon which the historian is essentially engaged. It has on occasions been suggested that what — amongst other things — divides adherents to the views in question is the fact that they are committed to radically different conceptions of the subject-matter of the historical studies; that is to say, of human beings and their activities. In the light of this fundamental disagreement, it is argued, many of the more intractable controversies that have arisen concerning the concepts and interpretative schemes in terms of which it is possible or legitimate to treat the human past become readily intelligible. In what follows I want to examine this claim. First, however, let me give a brief, and necessarily somewhat crude, outline of the two positions I have referred to, starting with one that is often described as ‘positivist’.

scholarly journals Peter Munz and Historical Thought

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-394
Author(s):  
Frank Ankersmit
Keyword(s):  
Daily Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
Speculative Philosophy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Scientific Laws ◽  
Covering Law ◽  
Historical Thought

Abstract Few philosophers of history ever recognized the profundity of Peter Munz’s The Shapes of Time that came out in 1977. In this book Munz upheld the view that no part or aspect of the past itself provides us with the solid fundament of all historical knowledge. For him, the historian’s most fundamental logical entity is what he calls the Sinngebild. The Sinngebild consists of two events defined and held together by a covering law. These CL’s can be anything from simple truisms, the regularities we know from daily life to truly scientific laws. But ‘underneath’ these Sinngebilde there is nothing. Hence, Munz’s bold assertation: ‘the truth of the matter is that there is no ascertainable face behind the various masks every story-teller is creating’ and his claim that his philosophy of history is ‘an idealism writ small’. Next, Munz distinguishes between ‘explanation’ and ‘interpretation’. We ‘explain’ the past by taking seriously the historical agent’s self-description and ‘interpret’ it by stating what it looks like from our present perspective. ‘Explanation’ and ‘interpretation’ may ‘typologically’ be more or less similar. Relying on a number of very well-chosen examples from his own field (Munz was a medievalist), this enables Munz to argue why one historical interpretation may be superior to another. In his later life Munz developed a speculative philosophy of history inspired by Popper’s fallibilism.

scholarly journals Mekanisme Pertahanan diri Kaum Tarekat

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 211
Author(s):  
Abd. Syakur
Keyword(s):  
Social Problems ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Real Life ◽  
The Other ◽  
Social Mechanism ◽  
Social Body ◽  
Training And Education ◽  
Spiritual Training ◽  
Sufi Order

Sufi orders have been instrumental in the life of the Sufis as centers for spiritual training and education. In these centers the Sufis can elaborate their ideas, and apply them in real life. In the passages of time however, these orders were no longer considered simply as religious centers but also as social groupings consisting of people committed not only to practice the teaching of their religion but also to get involved in social problems. There are indeed many Sufi orders with different character and upbringing. But as a whole, a Sufi order is mechanism for the spiritual survival of its fellows. This paper tries to look at the other side of the matter and argues that a Sufi order is not only spiritual in its nature but is also social. It treats Sufi orders as a social body that functions socially to help the murids to survive socially and not spiritually. We believe that the extinction of some Sufi orders is due mainly to their inability to curb with social issues and not because of the nature of their spiritual teaching. The survival of any Sufi order in other words depends very much on its social mechanism and not on the strength of its spiritual dictum.

scholarly journals THE PROBLEM OF INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE OF HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE B. CROCE'S PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY

2021 ◽  
pp. 246-268
Author(s):  
Артём Александрович Аванесян
Keyword(s):  
Life Experience ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
Individual Experience ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Individual Life ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Individual

Развиваемый Бенедетто Кроче подход к осмыслению специфики исторического познания приводит к формулированию идеи его укоренения в индивидуальном жизненном опыте познающего человека. Критика субстанциальной философии истории задает единственно возможную стратегию исследования прошлого через изучение единичных фактов и явлений, понимание которых определяется обстоятельствами и возможностями исторической ситуации работы исследователя. Такой проект истории приобретает черты изменчивого, ситуативного, принципиально незаконченного знания, находящегося в постоянном процессе становления. The approach to understanding the specifics of historical knowledge developed by Benedetto Croce leads to the formulation of the idea of its rooting in the individual life experience of a cognizing person. Criticism of the substantial philosophy of history sets the only possible strategy for studying the past through the study of individual facts and phenomena, the understanding of which is determined by the circumstances and possibilities of the historical situation of the researcher's work. This project of history acquires the features of a changeable, situational, fundamentally unfinished knowledge that is in a constant process of formation.

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