Historicism
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Historicism has developed different and divergent, though loosely related, meanings. Elements of some appear in the extensive writings of G.W.F. Hegel, one of the most influential philosophers of 19th-century Europe, as well as in those of a philosopher he deeply influenced, Karl Marx.
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Variants of historicism
Hegelian historicism
The historicist position proposed by Hegel suggests that no objective way exists to determine which of various competing theories on a subject is correct. According to this view, in science, philosophy, or any other discipline, there are only the facts about who has believed what, and when they believed it. Hegel's famous aphorism, "Philosophy is the history of philosophy." describes it bluntly. See also Nihilism.
Popperian historicism
Karl Popper used the term historicism in his influential books The Poverty of Historicism and The Open Society and Its Enemies, to mean: "an approach to the social sciences which assumes that historical prediction is their primary aim, and which assumes that this aim is attainable by discovering the 'rhythms' or the 'patterns', the 'laws' or the 'trends' that underlie the evolution of history" (p. 3 of The Poverty of Historicism, italics in original). Karl Popper wrote with reference to Hegel's theory of history, which he criticized extensively.
New historicism
Since the 1990s, some post-modernist thinkers have used historicism to describe the view that there is no absolute truth about deep philosophical questions that should stand for all time. Instead, their historicism holds that there is only the history of philosophy or more generally, intellectual history, including the history of science and technology. This school of thought sometimes goes by the name of New Historicism.
The same label, new historicism is also employed for a school of literary scholarship which interprets a poem, drama, etc. as an expression of the power-structures of the surrounding society. Stephen Greenblatt is an outstanding practitioner of this school.
Biblical historicism
In Christian circles, the term historicism refers to the confessional Protestant form of prophetical interpretation which holds that the fulfilment of biblical prophecy has taken place throughout history and continues to take place today; as opposed to other methods which limit the time-frame of prophecy-fulfillment to the past or to the future.
Relevant works
- Popper, Karl. 1945. The Open Society and Its Enemies (in 2 volumes). (ISBN 0691019681) Routledge.
- Popper, Karl. 1993. The Poverty of Historicism. (ISBN 0415065690) Routledge.
External links
Hegel
- The Hegel Society of America (http://www.hegel.org/)
- http://www.hegel.net/
- Hegel in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel/)
- http://www.gwfhegel.org/
- Hegel page in 'The History Guide' (http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/hegel.html)
Popper
- Extracts from The Poverty of Historicism (http://lachlan.bluehaze.com.au/books/popper_poverty_of_historicism.html)
New Historicism
- New Historicism Explained (http://www.sou.edu/English/Hedges/Sodashop/RCenter/Theory/Explaind/nhistexp.htm)
- Claes G. Ryn, Defining Historicism (http://www.nhinet.org/ryn-rob.htm)
- M. D. Murphy, Historicism (http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/Faculty/murphy/histor.htm)
Biblical Prophecy