Philosophy of History: Narrative and Explanation

Fall, 2002

Instructor: Robert J. Richards Hist. 25000/35000

Philos. 20600/30600

Tuesdays: 3:00-5:20

This lecture-discussion course will focus on the nature of historical explanation and the role of narrative in providing an understanding of historical events. The following books for the course will be found in the Seminary Cooperative Bookstore (5757 S. University). The photo-copies can be purchased in the Fishbein Center, Social Science Building, room 207.

I. Books for the course:

Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life (Hackett).

Collingwood, R. G., The Idea of History, revised edition, with Introduction by Jan van der Dussen (Oxford)

Danto, Arthur, Narration and Knowledge (Columbia)

Selected Readings in Philosophy of History, packet of photo-copies

II. Course Requirements:

A. The selections for each class must be thoroughly read, and everyone should be prepared to discuss the material.

B. In the second half of each class, one or two students will present position papers on the reading material. These papers should develop some problem or central aspect of the reading and take a pro or con position in respect to the material developed. These should not be summaries of the reading, but the articulation of an important thesis contained therein and a critical stance in respect of that thesis. These papers must not be any longer than two pages. They should be sent to the instructor via the Chalk program on the Monday before class, by 12:00 p.m. The instructor will then send it out to the entire class. During the second half of the class the students will have about 5 minutes to summarize their papers, after which we will talk about the issues.

C. Four five-to-eight-page papers that deal with some problem in the reading. The papers should be turned into the secretary in the Fishbein Center on Mondays, according to the following schedule:

1. On the readings in sections II-III, due October 14^th

2. On the readings in sections IV-V, due October 28th

3. On the readings in sections VI-VII, due November 11th.

4. On the readings in sections VIII-X, due December 2^nd.

III. Office hours: TT, 1:15-2:30 p.m. (and by appointment), Social Science Research 205.

Phone: 702-8348. Fax: 743-8949. Email: r-richards@uchicago.edu.

I. Introduction: The Accomplishment of Gibbon.

II. Romantic Philosophy of History: External Law and Internal Freedom.

A. Immanuel Kant, "Idea for a Universal History from a Cosmopolitan Point of View" (1784). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

B. Friedrich Schiller, "The Nature and Value of Universal History" (1788). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

C. Wilhelm von Humboldt, "On the Historians Task" (1821). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

D. R. G. Collingwood, The Idea of History (1946), pp. 86-105.

III. Historicism

A. Wilhelm Dilthey: "An Introduction to the Human Studies (Geisteswissenschaften)" and "The Construction of the Historical World in the Human Studies" (1883). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

B. Wilhelm Windelband on nomothetic and ideographic science: "History and Natural Science" (1894). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

C. Collingwood, The Idea of History, pp. 165-176.

IV. Dangers of History

A. Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Advantage and Disadvantage of History for Life.

V. History as Rethinking the Thoughts behind Events:

A. R. G. Collingwood, The Idea of History, pp. 1-13; 205-302.

VI. History of La longue duré

A. F. Braudel, "Preface" to The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, from his On History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

B. F. Furet, "From Narrative History to Problem-Oriented History," from his In the Workshop of History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

C. F. Braudel, "History and the Social Sciences," from On History. In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

D. W. Dray, "Narrative versus Analysis in History," Philosophy of the Social Sciences 15 (1985): 125-45. In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

VII. The Scientist’s View of Historical Explanation

A. C. Hempel, "The Function of General Laws in History" (1942) from his Aspects of Scientific Explanation (New York: Free Press, 1965). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

B. L. Mink, "Philosophical Analysis and Historical Understanding," Review of Metaphysics 20 (1968): 667-98. In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

VIII.The Philosopher’s View of Historical Explanation:

A. Danto, Narration and Knowledge, pp. ix-33; 88-182; 201-56

IX. History as Narrative.

A. Lawrence Stone, “The Revival of Narrative,” Past and Present (1979). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

B. H. White, "The Historical Text as Literary Artifact,” Tropics of Discourse (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins, 1978). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

C. R. J. Richards, “The Structure of Narrative Explanation in History and Biology,” in History and Evolution, eds. M. Nitecki and D. Nitecki (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

D. D. Carr, "Narrative and the Real World: An Argument for Continuity," History and Theory 15 (1986): 117-31. In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

X. The Contemporary Moment: Objectivity and Truth in History

A. Peter Novick, ”The Center Will not Hold,” That Noble Dream (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

B. Joyce Appleby, Lynn Hunt, & Margaret Jacob, “Truth and Objectivity,” in Telling the Truth About History (New York: Norton, 1994). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.

C. B. Herrnstein Smith, "Belief and Resistance: A Symmetrical Account," in Questions of Evidence: Proof, Practice, and Persuasion across the Disciplines, eds. J. Chandler, et al. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994). In Selected Readings in Philosophy of History.