Foundations of Modern Historical Thought: From Machiavelli to Vico (Routledge Library Editions: Historiography)

The emergence of a sense of the past in Renaissance humanism gave rise to a new historical consciousness about the meaning of history and methods of historical enquiry. This book, originally published in 1986, provides an in-depth critical introduction to the historical thought of some of the most influential thinkers of Western culture, from Machiavelli’s reflections on history and power to the revolutionary intuitions of Giambattista Vico’s New Science of historical understanding, taking in Bodin, Montaigne, Bacon, Descartes, Hobbes, Locke, Newton, Leibniz and Bayle on the way. The greatest problem in historical scholarship, theoretically and practically, is the relation between historians and their subject matter. The past is gone and historians can only study its remnants. On what basis do scholars select certain facts from the mass of data left from the past? How do they explain the interrelationship of the facts they select? What criteria do they use to evaluate their subject? The 35 volumes in this set, originally published between 1926 and 1990 discuss and answer these essential questions faced by historians. The development of historical understanding during the 18th and 19th centuries was one of the most striking features of Western culture. Both historiography and historical thinking advanced as never before. The historial movment of the 19th century was perhaps second only to the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century in transforming Western thought. One consequence was extensive organisation and professionalization of research, which the volumes in this set reflect. Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Original Title Page -- Original Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Introduction: Medieval and Renaissance Harbingers of History -- 1 Machiavelli: History and Power -- 2 Bodin and Montaigne: Speculation and Introspection -- 3 Bacon: Towards a Science of Man -- 4 Hobbes: History and Reason -- 5 History and Philosophy on the Eve of the Enlightenment -- 6 Vico: The Harvest of Pre-Enlightenment History -- Postscript -- Bibliography -- Primary Texts -- Secondary Studies -- Subject Index -- Index of Names Introduction: Medieval and Renaissance Harbingers of History 1. Machiavelli: History and Power 2. Bodin and Montaigne: Speculation and Introspection 3. Bacon: Towards a Science of Man 4. Hobbes: History and Reason 5. History and Philosophy on the Eve of the Enlightenment 6. Vico: The Harvest of Pre-Englightenment History. Postscript. Bibliography. Primary Texts. Secondary Studies. Paul Avis. Includes Indexes. Bibliography: P. 164-174.