Explanation in Action Theory and Historiography

Explanation in Action Theory and Historiography PDF Author: Gunnar Schumann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429000650
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
Is the appropriate form of human action explanation causal or rather teleological? While this is a central question in analytic philosophy of action, it also has implications for questions about the differences between methods of explanation in the sciences on the one hand and in the humanities and the social sciences on the other. Additionally, this question bears on the problem of the appropriate form of explanations of past human actions, and therefore it is prominently discussed by analytic philosophers of historiography. This volume brings together causalists and anti-causalists to address enduring philosophical questions at the heart of this debate, as well as their implications for the practice of historiography. Part I considers the quarrel between causalism and anti-causalism in recent developments in the philosophy of action. Part II presents papers by causalists and anti-causalists that are more narrowly focused on the philosophy of historiography.

Explanation in Action Theory and Historiography

Explanation in Action Theory and Historiography PDF Author: Gunnar Schumann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429000650
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 267

Get Book

Book Description
Is the appropriate form of human action explanation causal or rather teleological? While this is a central question in analytic philosophy of action, it also has implications for questions about the differences between methods of explanation in the sciences on the one hand and in the humanities and the social sciences on the other. Additionally, this question bears on the problem of the appropriate form of explanations of past human actions, and therefore it is prominently discussed by analytic philosophers of historiography. This volume brings together causalists and anti-causalists to address enduring philosophical questions at the heart of this debate, as well as their implications for the practice of historiography. Part I considers the quarrel between causalism and anti-causalism in recent developments in the philosophy of action. Part II presents papers by causalists and anti-causalists that are more narrowly focused on the philosophy of historiography.

Historical Explanation

Historical Explanation PDF Author: Gunnar Schumann
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781032586540
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This book is concerned with the appropriate form of explanations in historiography and the social sciences. It combines action theory and philosophy of historiography and develops a theory of teleological explanations of human actions based on late-Wittgensteinian and Ordinary Language Philosophy insights. In philosophy of action, many philosophers favor causal theories of human action. Additionally, in current philosophy of historiography the majority view is that historians should explain historical phenomena by their causes. This book pushes back against these mainstream views by reviving an anti-causal view of explanation of current and past human actions. The author argues that disciplines that deal with human actions require a certain form of explanation, namely a teleological or intentional explanation. This means that past human actions and their results will have to be explained by reasons of agents, not by causes. Therefore, historiography employs a method of explanation which is in stark contrast to the sciences. The author thus proposes a Verstehen (understanding) approach in historiography and the social sciences. Historical Explanation will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of action, philosophy of history, and philosophy of the social sciences.

A Theory of History

A Theory of History PDF Author: Agnes Heller
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317268830
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
This radical analysis of the role and importance of historiography interprets the philosophy and theory of history on the basis of historicity as a human condition. The book examins the norms and methods of historiography from a philosophical point of view, but rejects generalisations tht the philosophy of history can provide all the answers to contemporary problems. Instead it outlines a feasible theory of history which is still radical enough to apply to all social structures.

The Routledge Companion to Historical Theory

The Routledge Companion to Historical Theory PDF Author: Chiel van den Akker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000465500
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 592

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Book Description
This Companion provides a wide-ranging and up-to-date overview of the conceptual issues that history as a discipline and mode of thought gives rise to. The book offers both historical and systematic treatments of these issues, as well as addressing their contemporary relevance. Structured in three parts – Modes and Schools of Historical Thought, Epistemology and Metaphysics of History, and Issues and Challenges in Historical Theory – it offers the reader a wide scope and expert treatment of each topic in this vibrant field that can be read in any order. An international team of experts both discuss the basis of their topic and present their own view, offering the reader a cutting-edge contribution while ensuring their chapters are of interest to both students and specialists in the field of historical theory and engaging with the very nature of historical thought, the metaphysics of historical existence, the politics of history-writing, and the intelligibility of the historical process. The volume is an indispensable companion to the study of history and essential reading for anyone interested in the reflection on the nature of history and our historical existence.

Historical Explanation

Historical Explanation PDF Author: Gunnar Schumann
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000997960
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 347

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Book Description
This book is concerned with the appropriate form of explanations in historiography and the social sciences. It combines action theory and philosophy of historiography and develops a theory of teleological explanations of human actions based on late-Wittgensteinian and Ordinary Language Philosophy insights. In philosophy of action, many philosophers favor causal theories of human action. Additionally, in current philosophy of historiography the majority view is that historians should explain historical phenomena by their causes. This book pushes back against these mainstream views by reviving an anti-causal view of explanation of current and past human actions. The author argues that disciplines that deal with human actions require a certain form of explanation, namely a teleological or intentional explanation. This means that past human actions and their results will have to be explained by reasons of agents, not by causes. Therefore, historiography employs a method of explanation which is in stark contrast to the sciences. The author thus proposes a Verstehen (understanding) approach in historiography and the social sciences. Historical Explanation will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of action, philosophy of history, and philosophy of the social sciences.

Understanding History

Understanding History PDF Author: Jonathan Gorman
Publisher: University of Ottawa Press
ISBN: 0776603558
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 137

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Book Description
Has any question about the historical past ever been finally answered? Of course there is much disagreement among professional historians about what happened in the past and how to explain it. But this incisive study goes one step further and brings into question the very ability of historians to gather and communicate genuine knowledge about the past. Understanding History applies this general question from the philosophy of history to economic history of American slaveholders. Do we understand the American slaveholders? Has the last word on the subject been said? Both the alleged "profitability" of slavery and the purported causes of the American Civil War are philosophically analyzed. Traditional narrative history and econometric history are examined and compared, and their different philosophical assumptions made explicit. The problem of justifying historical methodologies is first set in the wider context of the philosophical problem of knowledge, then lucidly explained and resolved along pragmatic lines. The novelty of Gorman's approach lies in its comparison of narrative with econometric history, its analysis of empathetic understanding in terms of cost-benefit analysis, and its elucidation of the metaphysical presuppositions of empiricism. It stands out especially for the clarity, rigor, and simplicity of its arguments.

What Can Be Shown Cannot Be Said

What Can Be Shown Cannot Be Said PDF Author: Ines Skelac
Publisher: LIT Verlag
ISBN: 3643966377
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
This book explores interdisciplinary themes intersecting with the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein and compares his ideas with influential philosophers, from Spinoza to Kripke. It discovers Wittgenstein’s impact on contemporary topics such as artificial intelligence development. This collection features sixteen original articles, delving into ethics, meaning determinacy, language games, and more. Gain fresh perspectives and broaden your philosophical horizons with this valuable resource for Wittgenstein scholars, researchers and students interested in various aspects of Wittgenstein’s philosophy.

The History of Understanding in Analytic Philosophy

The History of Understanding in Analytic Philosophy PDF Author: Adam Tamas Tuboly
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350159220
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Interpretive understanding of human behaviour, known as verstehen, underpins the divide between the social sciences and the natural sciences. Taking a historically orientated approach, this collection offers a fresh take on the development of understanding within analytic philosophy before, during and after logical empiricism. In doing so, it reinvigorates debates on the role of the social sciences within contemporary epistemology. Bringing together leading experts including Martin Kusch, Thomas Uebel, Karsten Stueber and Giuseppina D'Oro, it is an authoritative reference on the logical empiricists' philosophy of social science. Charting the various reformulations of verstehen as proposed by Wilhem Dilthey, Max Weber, R.G Collingwood and Peter Winch, the volume explores the reception of the social sciences prior to logical empiricism, before surveying the positive and negative critiques from Otto Neurath, Felix Kaufmann, Viktor Kraft and other logical empiricists. As such, chapters reveal that verstehen was not altogether rejected by the Vienna Circle, but was subject to various conceptual uses and misuses. Along with systematic historical coverage, the book situates verhesten within contemporary interdisciplinary developments in the field, shedding light on the 21st-century 'turn' to understanding among analytic philosophers and opening further lines of inquiry for philosophy of social science.

History and Causality

History and Causality PDF Author: M. Hewitson
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137372400
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
This volume investigates the different attitudes of historians and other social scientists to questions of causality. It argues that historical theorists after the linguistic turn have paid surprisingly little attention to causes in spite of the centrality of causation in many contemporary works of history.

Theories of History

Theories of History PDF Author: Patrick L. Gardiner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description