What is it about?
This article provides one example of what a pragmatist philosophy of history might look like, adding a possible methodology for historical and philosophical study.
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Why is it important?
History is so important; history is (at least a significant part of) our nature and we cannot exist without our history. But there are also limits to how much we can remember, how much can therefore be "officially" recorded, how much bias exists and colors interpretation, how many can serve as "recorders," to name just a few of the key ways in which our possible historical knowledge can never be complete. A pragmatist philosophy of history will, therefore, make us question and view historical study in a pragmatic, useful sense; to see history and historical record as stemming largely from the practical use it has to exist and be recorded as such, by whom and for whom, which also implies a level of meta-history and lack of authenticity in its explicit, conscious objective. Thus, this is another important methodology for historical and philosophical study, serving primarily as additional reminders of the limitations of our possible knowledge in these academic disciplines that we should keep in mind as we read, study, and try to interpret history.
Perspectives
It is a personal goal of mine to expand scholarship in the philosophy of history. My personal interest within this area is to create a coherent pragmatist philosophy of history. This article serves as a piece of that project, in conjunction with others already published or in progress. This all stems from my doctoral dissertation on the topic.
Marnie Binder
California State University, Sacramento
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: F.C.S. Schiller’s Pragmatist Philosophy of History, Contemporary Pragmatism, November 2017, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/18758185-01404001.
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