Rg collingwood the idea of history

R. G. Collingwood

British historian and philosopher (1889–1943)

Robin George CollingwoodFBA (; 22 February 1889 – 9 January 1943) was operate English philosopher, historian and archaeologist. Noteworthy is best known for his philosophic works, including The Principles of Art (1938) and the posthumously published The Idea of History (1946).

Biography

Collingwood was born 22 February 1889 in Cartmel, Grange-over-Sands, then in Lancashire (now Cumbria), the son of the artist settle down archaeologist W.G. Collingwood, who acted laugh John Ruskin's private secretary in excellence final years of Ruskin's life. Collingwood's mother was also an artist service a talented pianist. He was cultivated at Rugby School and University Academy, Oxford, where he gained a Be in first place in Classical Moderations (Greek and Latin) in 1910 and a congratulatory Have control over in Greats (Ancient History and Philosophy) in 1912.[4] Prior to graduation, proceed was elected a fellow of Corgi College, Oxford.

Collingwood was a individual of Pembroke College, Oxford, for heavygoing 23 years until becoming the Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was taught past as a consequence o the historian and archaeologist F. Record. Haverfield, at the time Camden Academic of Ancient History. Important influences country Collingwood were the Italian Idealists Benedetto Croce, Giovanni Gentile and Guido be destroyed Ruggiero, the last of whom was also a close friend. Other portentous influences were Hegel, Kant, Giambattista Vico, F. H. Bradley and J. A. Smith.

After several years of increasingly debilitating strokes, Collingwood died at Coniston, Lancashire, testimonial 9 January 1943. He was ingenious practising Anglican throughout his life.

Philosopher

Collingwood defined philosophy as "thought of honourableness second degree, thought about thought". Forceful astronomer investigates phenomena and provides simple theory from their observations, if picture astronomer were to think about their process this would be philosophy.[5]

Philosophy star as history

Collingwood is widely noted for The Idea of History (1946), which was collated from various sources soon tail his death by a student, Standardized. M. Knox. It came to adjust a major inspiration for philosophy exhaustive history in the English-speaking world bear is extensively cited, leading to plug up ironic remark by commentator Louis Mink that Collingwood is coming to excellence "the best known neglected thinker custom our time".[6] Collingwood is quoted multiform times in E.H. Carr's famous spot on What is History?.[7]

Collingwood categorized history primate a science, defining a science although "any organized body of knowledge."[8] On the other hand, he distinguished history from natural sciences because the concerns of these join branches are different: natural sciences financial assistance concerned with the physical world, piece history, in its most common operation, is concerned with social sciences at an earlier time human affairs.[9] Collingwood pointed out fine fundamental difference between knowing things come to terms with the present (or in the brazen sciences) and knowing history. To revenue to know things in the mediate or about things in the affect sciences, "real" things can be practical, as they are in existence capture that have substance right now.[citation needed]

Since the internal thought processes hold historical persons cannot be perceived look after the physical senses and past factual events cannot be directly observed, chronicle must be methodologically different from unoccupied sciences. History, being a study detail the human mind, is interested coop up the thoughts and motivations of rendering actors in history,[10] this insight growth encapsulated in his epigram "All description is the history of thought."[11] So, Collingwood suggested that a historian corrosion "reconstruct" history by using "historical imagination" to "re-enact" the thought processes rigidity historical persons based on information snowball evidence from historical sources. Re-enactment sell thought refers to the idea delay the historian can access not matchless a thought process similar to meander of the historical actor, but decency actual thought process itself. Consider Collingwood's words regarding the study of Plato:

In its immediacy, as an actual knowledge of his own, Plato's argument be obliged undoubtedly have grown up out trap a discussion of some sort, even if I do not know what transfer was, and been closely connected become apparent to such a discussion. Yet if Unrestrainable not only read his argument nevertheless understand it, follow it in pensive own mind by re-arguing it industrial action and for myself, the process go with argument which I go through in your right mind not a process resembling Plato's, besmirch actually is Plato's, so far bit I understand him rightly.[12]

In Collingwood's disorder, a thought is a single intent accessible to the public and hence, regardless of how many people have to one`s name the same thought, it is similar a singular thought. "Thoughts, in upset words, are to be distinguished other self the basis of purely qualitative criteria, and if there are two society entertaining the (qualitatively) same thought, approximately is (numerically) only one thought on account of there is only one propositional content."[13] Therefore, if historians follow the amend line of inquiry in response correspond with a historical source and reason correct, they can arrive at the by far thought the author of their well 2 had and, in so doing, "re-enact" that thought.

Collingwood rejected what be active deemed "scissors-and-paste history" in which justness historian rejects a statement recorded unhelpful their subject either because it contradicts another historical statement or because narrow down contradicts the historian's own understanding noise the world. As he states increase by two Principles of History, sometimes a recorder will encounter "a story which perform simply cannot believe, a story inimitable, perhaps, of the superstitions or prejudices of the author's time or ethics circle in which he lived, however not credible to a more aware age, and therefore to be omitted."[14] This, Collingwood argues, is an uninvited way to do history. Sources which make claims that do not draw up with current understandings of the universe were still created by rational general public who had reason for creating them. Therefore, these sources are valuable extort ought to be investigated further restrict order to get at the reliable context in which they were built and for what reason.

Philosophy counterfeit art

The Principles of Art (1938) comprises Collingwood's most developed treatment of cosmetic questions. Collingwood held (following Benedetto Croce) that works of art are generally expressions of emotion. For Collingwood, phony important social role for artists quite good to clarify and articulate emotions distance from their community.

Collingwood considered 'magic' accept be a form of art, primate opposed to superstition or 'bad science'. Magic for Collingwood is a dexterous exercise to bring about a fixed emotional state. For example magic just about a war dance before a struggle against is a ritual whereby the warriors work themselves up into a honestly emotive state in order to contractual obligation battle.[13] In giving such a opinion Collingwood hoped to address the outflow of the word 'magic' having "no definite significance at all", he spontaneous to ameliorate this by making banish a term "with a definite meaning".[15] He accuses anthropologists of prejudice what because analyzing the magical practices of former generations, as they assumed that presence must fulfill the same purpose help modern science.[16]

Collingwood developed a position after known as aesthetic expressivism (not retain be confused with various other views typically called expressivism), a thesis have control over developed by Croce.[17]

Political philosophy

In politics Collingwood defended the ideals of what take steps called liberalism "in its Continental sense":

The essence of this conception is ... the idea of a community introduce governing itself by fostering the allow to run riot expression of all political opinions cruise take shape within it, and most important some means of reducing this departure of opinions to a unity.[18]

In monarch Autobiography, Collingwood confessed that his polity had always been "democratic" and "liberal", and shared Guido de Ruggiero's be of the same opinion that socialism had rendered a undisturbed service to liberalism by pointing do away with the shortcomings of laissez-faire economics.[19]

Archaeologist

Collingwood was not just a philosopher of life but also a practising historian with the addition of archaeologist. He was, during his at a rate of knots, a leading authority on Roman Britain: he spent his term time dispute Oxford teaching philosophy but devoted long vacations to archaeology.

He began work along Hadrian's Wall. The descendants home was at Coniston in primacy Lake District and his father was a leading figure in the General and Westmorland Archaeological Society. Collingwood was drawn in on a number pay for excavations and put forward the presumption that Hadrian's Wall was not consequently much a fighting platform but fact list elevated sentry walk.[20] He also deterrent forward the suggestion that Hadrian's jealous system also included a number taste forts along the Cumberland coast.

He was very active in the 1930 Wall Pilgrimage for which he brace yourself the ninth edition of Bruce's Explain.

His final and most controversial furrow in Cumbria was that of spiffy tidy up circular ring ditch near Penrith memorable as King Arthur's Round Table lineage 1937. It appeared to be great Neolithic henge monument, and Collingwood's method, failing to find conclusive evidence noise Neolithic activity, nevertheless found the design of two stone pillars, a feasible cremation trench and some post holes. Sadly, his subsequent ill health prevented him undertaking a second season like so the work was handed over pileup the German prehistorian Gerhard Bersu, who queried some of Collingwood's findings. Subdue, recently, Grace Simpson, the daughter business the excavator F. G. Simpson, has queried Bersu's work and largely rehabilitated Collingwood as an excavator.[21]

He also began what was to be the major stick of his archaeological career, preparing keen corpus of the Roman Inscriptions topple Britain, which involved travelling all rein in Britain to see the inscriptions plus draw them; he eventually prepared drawings of nearly 900 inscriptions. It was finally published in 1965 by her majesty student R. P. Wright.

He also in print two major archaeological works. The pass with flying colours was The Archaeology of Roman Britain, a handbook in sixteen chapters outside first the archaeological sites (fortresses, towns and temples and portable antiquities) inscriptions, coins, pottery and brooches. Mortimer Bicyclist in a review,[22] remarked that "it seemed at first a trifle foul beat that he should immerse yourselves in so much museum-like detail ... on the other hand I felt sure that this was incidental to his primary mission undulation organise his own thinking".

However, crown most important work was his excise to the first volume of illustriousness Oxford History of England, Roman Kingdom and the English Settlements, of which he wrote the major part, Nowell Myres adding the second smaller means on English settlements. The book was in many ways revolutionary for unequivocal set out to write the nonconformist of Roman Britain from an archeological rather than a historical viewpoint, in spite of that into practice his own belief razorsharp 'Question and Answer' archaeology.

The clarification was alluring and influential. However, translation Ian Richmond wrote, 'The general pressman may discover too late that grasp has one major defect. It does not sufficiently distinguish between objective splendid subjective and combines both in a- subtle and apparently objective presentation'.[23]

The ceiling notorious passage is that on Romano-British art: "the impression that constantly turf the archaeologist, like a bad sniff, is that of an ugliness guarantee plagues the place like a Writer fog".[24]

Collingwood's most important contribution to Brits archaeology was his insistence on Query and Answer archaeology: excavations should snivel take place unless there is a-ok question to be answered. It disintegration a philosophy which, as Anthony Birley points out,[25] has been incorporated timorous English Heritage into the conditions production Scheduled Monuments Consent. Still, it has always been surprising that the proponents of the "new" archaeology in say publicly 1960s and the 70s have heart and soul ignored the work of Collingwood, significance one major archaeologist who was besides a major professional philosopher. He has been described as an early exponent of archaeological theory.[26]

Author

Outside archaeology and natural, he also published the travel emergency supply The First Mate's Log of capital Voyage to Greece (1940), an balance of a yachting voyage in prestige Mediterranean, in the company of not too of his students.

Arthur Ransome was a family friend, and learned keep sail in their boat, subsequently individual instruction his sibling's children to sail. Ransome loosely based the Swallows in Swallows and Amazons series on his sibling's children.

Works

Main works published in surmount lifetime

Main articles published in his lifetime

  • 'A Philosophy of Progress', The Realist, 1:1, April 1929, 64-77

Published posthumously

All 'revised' editions comprise the original text plus wonderful new introduction and extensive additional trouble.

Notes

  1. ^ abCollingwood himself used the momentary historicism, a term that he patently coined, to describe his approach (for example, in his lecture "Ruskin's Philosophy" lecture, delivered to the Ruskin Period Conference Exhibition, Coniston, Cumbria (see Jan van der Dussen, History as clean up Science: The Philosophy of R. Ill-defined. Collingwood, Springer, 2012, p. 49)), on the contrary some later historiographers describe him sort a proponent of "historism" in consonance with the current English meaning atlas the term (F. R. Ankersmit, Sublime Consecutive Experience, Stanford University Press, 2005, proprietor. 404).
  2. ^A translation of the German Historismus first coined by Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel (see Brian Leiter, Michael Rosen (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Transcontinental Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 2007, proprietress. 175: "[The word 'historicism'] appears on account of early as the late eighteenth c in the writings of the Teutonic romantics, who used it in neat neutral sense. In 1797 Friedrich Schlegel used 'historicism' to refer to tidy philosophy that stresses the importance break into history ...").
  3. ^David Naugle, "R. G. Collingwood favour the Hermeneutic Tradition", 1993.
  4. ^Oxford University Slate 1913, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1913, pp. 196, 222
  5. ^Collingwood, R.G. (1948). Idea of History. OUP. p. 1.
  6. ^Mink, Louis Ormation. (1969). Mind, History, and Dialectic. Indiana University Press, 1.
  7. ^Carr, E.H. (1961). What is History?. Penguin Books.
  8. ^Collingwood, R. G.; Dray, William H.; van der Dussen, W. J. (1999). The Principles weekend away History and Other Writings in Conjecture of History. New York: Oxford Academia Press. p. 1. ISBN .
  9. ^D'Oro, Giuseppina; Connelly, Book. "Robin George Collingwood". The Stanford Reference of Philosophy. Metaphysics Research Lab, University University. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  10. ^Adrian, Hagiu; Constantin C., Lupașcu; Sergiu, Bortoș. "Robin George Collingwood on Understanding the Reliable Past"(PDF). Hermeneia (29): 83–92. eISSN 2069-8291. ISSN 1453-9047.
  11. ^"historiography – Intellectual history | Britannica". . Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  12. ^Collingwood, R. Floccose. (1993). The Idea of History. Original York: Oxford University Press. p. 301.
  13. ^ abD'Oro, Giuseppina; Connelly, James. "Robin George Collingwood". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Knowledge Research Lab, Stanford University. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  14. ^Collingwood, R. G.; Dray, William H; van der Dussen, W. Tabulate. (1999). The Principles of History build up Other Writings in Philosophy of History. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 13. ISBN .
  15. ^Collingwood, R.G. (1938). The Principles living example Art. Clarendon Press. p. 57.
  16. ^Collingwood, R.G. (1938). The Principles of Art. Clarendon Overcome. p. 58.
  17. ^Gaut, Berys Nigel; Lopes, Dominic, system. (2013). "Expressivism: Croce and Collingwood". The Routledge companion to aesthetics. Routledge metaphysical philosophy companions (3 ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 106–115. ISBN .
  18. ^R. G. Collingwood (2005). "Man Goes Mad" in The Philosophy of Enchantment. City University Press, 318.
  19. ^Boucher, David (2003). The Social and Political Thought of R. G. Collingwood. Cambridge University Press. p. 152.
  20. ^The Vasculum 8:4–9.
  21. ^Collingwood Studies 5, 1998, 109-119
  22. ^Antiquity 43
  23. ^Richmond, I.A., 1944. 'Appreciation of R. Flossy. Collingwood as an archaeologist', Proceedings break into the British Academy 29:478
  24. ^ abCollingwood, Heed. G. (Robin George), 1889-1943. (1937). Roman Britain and the English settlements. Myres, J. N. L. (John Nowell Linton) (Second ed.). Oxford: The Clarendon Press. pp. 250. ISBN . OCLC 398748 – via Internet Archive.: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors assign (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ^Introductory essay in R. Indistinct. Collingwood, An Autobiography, Oxford University Press.
  26. ^Leach, Stephen (2012). Duggan, M.; McIntosh, F.; Rohl, D. J. (eds.). "R. Linty. Collingwood – an Early Archaeological Theorist?". TRAC 2011: Proceedings of the Bill First Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, City 2011. Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal (2011). Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference & Oxbow Books: 10–18. doi:10.16995/TRAC2011_10_18. S2CID 194526654.
  27. ^Collingwood, R. Furry. (Robin George) (1916). Religion and Philosophy. Robarts - University of Toronto. Author, Macmillan. ISBN  – via Internet Archive.
  28. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1923). Roman Britain. Clarendon Press.
  29. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1932). Roman Britain. Clarendon Press.
  30. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1924). Speculum Mentis: Or, The Map of Knowledge. Clarendon Press.
  31. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1925). Outlines of a philosophy of art. Thoemmes. ISBN .
  32. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1930). The archeology of Roman Britain. Methuen & Captain. Ltd. ISBN .
  33. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1933). An essay on philosophical method. The Clarendon Press.
  34. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1938). The Customary of Art. Clarendon Press. ISBN .
  35. ^Collingwood, Redbreast George (1939). An autobiography. Oxford Establishing Press. ISBN .
  36. ^Collingwood, R. G. (15 Apr 2003). The First Mates Log. A&C Black. ISBN .
  37. ^Collingwood, R. G.; Collingwood, Thrush George (24 May 2001). An Structure on Metaphysics. Clarendon Press. ISBN .
  38. ^Collingwood, Thrush George (1999). The New Leviathan: Retreat Man, Society, Civilization, and Barbarism. Clarendon Press. ISBN .
  39. ^Collingwood, Robin George (31 Dec 1960). The Idea of Nature. Town University Press. ISBN .
  40. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1956). The idea of history. Oxford Home Press.
  41. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1964). Essays minute the philosophy of art. Indiana Establishment Press.
  42. ^Collingwood, Robin George (1965). Essays essential the Philosophy of History. University pattern Texas Press. ISBN .
  43. ^Collingwood, Robin George; Boucher, David (1989). Essays in Political Philosophy. Clarendon Press. ISBN .
  44. ^Collingwood, Robin George; Collingwood, R. G. (1999). The Principles disregard History: And Other Writings in Metaphysics of History. Oxford University Press. ISBN .
  45. ^Collingwood, R. G. (2005). The Philosophy grip Enchantment: Studies in Folktale, Cultural Valuation, and Anthropology. Oxford University Press.

Sources

  • William Pot-pourri. Johnston, The Formative Years of Attention. G. Collingwood (Harvard University Archives, 1965)
  • Jan van der Dussen: History as a-one Science: The Philosophy of R. Obscure. Collingwood. Springer, 2012. ISBN 978-94-007-4311-3 [Print]; ISBN 978-94-007-4312-0 [eBook]
  • David Boucher. The Social and Federal Thought of R. G. Collingwood. City University Press. 1989. 300pp.
  • Alan Donagan. The Later Philosophy of R. G. Collingwood. University of Chicago Press. 1986.
  • William About. Dray. History as Re-enactment: R. Fuzzy. Collingwood's Idea of History. Oxford Institution of higher education Press. 1995. 347pp.

Further reading

  • Moran, Seán Author, "R.G. Collingwood," Encyclopedia of Historians ray Historical Writing, Vol. I.

External links

  • Additional Interval and Documents by R. G. Collingwood at the Wayback Machine (archived 13 Sept 2005)
  • D'Oro, Giuseppina. "Robin George Collingwood". Bonding agent Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Vocabulary of Philosophy.
  • Kemp, Gary. "Collingwood's Aesthetics". Loaded Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Glossary of Philosophy.
  • Voice in the wilderness: RG Collingwood 2009 radio discussion with Marnie Hughes-Warrington on The Philosopher's Zone
  • "How nobility untimely death of RG Collingwood at odds the course of philosophy forever" 2019 article by Ray Monk for Prospect
  • Leach, S., 2009. "An Appreciation of Acclaim. G. Collingwood as an Archaeologist". Bulletin of the History of Archaeology, 19(1), pp. 14–20.
  • Works by or about R. Blurry. Collingwood at the Internet Archive
  • Portraits observe R. G. Collingwood at the State Portrait Gallery, London