Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought.)

Modernity in the late eighteenth century transformed all domains of European life -intellectual, industrial, and social. Not least affected was the experience of time itself: ever-accelerating change left people with briefer intervals of time in which to gather new experiences and adapt. In this provocative and erudite book Reinhart Koselleck, a distinguished philosopher of history, explores the concept of historical time by posing the question: what kind of experience is opened up by the emergence of modernity? Relying on an extraordinary array of witnesses and texts from politicians, philosophers, theologians, and poets to Renaissance paintings and the dreams of German citizens during the Third Reich, Koselleck shows that, with the advent of modernity, the past and the future became 'relocated' in relation to each other.The promises of modernity -freedom, progress, infinite human improvement -produced a world accelerating toward an unknown and unknowable future within which awaited the possibility of achieving utopian fulfillment. History, Koselleck asserts, emerged in this crucial moment as a new temporality providing distinctly new ways of assimilating experience. In the present context of globalization and its resulting crises, the modern world once again faces a crisis in aligning the experience of past and present. To realize that each present was once an imagined future may help us once again place ourselves within a temporality organized by human thought and humane ends as much as by the contingencies of uncontrolled events. History, Koselleck Asserts, Emerged In The Crucial Moment Of Modernity As A New Temporality Providing Distinctly New Ways Of Assimilating Experience. This Exploration Of The Concept Of Historical Time Considers The Perceived Relationships Between The Present (once The Future) & The Past (once The Present). Pt. I. On The Relation Of Past And Future In Modern History. Modernity And The Planes Of Historicity ; Historia Magistra Vitae: The Dissolution Of The Topos Into The Perspective Of A Modernized Historical Process ; Historical Criteria Of The Modern Concept Of Revolution ; Historical Prognosis In Lorenz Von Stein's Essay On The Prussian Constitution -- Pt. Ii. Theory And Method Of The Historical Determination Of Time. Begriffsgeschichte And Social History ; History, Histories, And Formal Time Structures ; Representation, Event, And Structure ; Chance As Motivational Trace In Historical Writing ; Perspective And Temporality: A Contribution To The Historiographical Exposure Of The Historical World -- Pt. Iii. Semantic Remarks On The Mutation Of Historical Experience. The Historical-political Semantics Of Asymmetric Counterconcepts ; On The Disposability Of History ; Terror And Dream: Methodological Remarks On The Experience Of Time During The Third Reich ; Neuzeit: Remarks On The Semantics Of Modern Concepts Of Movement ; Space Of Experience And Horizon Of Expectation: Two Historical Categories. Reinhart Koselleck ; Translated And With An Introduction By Keith Tribe. Originally Published In English: Cambridge, Mass. : Mit Press, 1985. In Series: Studies In Contemporary German Social Thought. With New Introd. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [277]-311) And Index. Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Contents 5 TRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION 7 Author’s Preface 23 PART I ON THE RELATION OF PAST AND FUTURE IN MODERN HISTORY 29 1. Modernity and the Planes of Historicity 31 2. Historia Magistra Vitae: The Dissolution of the Topos into the Perspective of a Modernized Historical Process 48 3. Historical Criteria of the Modern Concept of Revolution 65 4. Historical Prognosis in Lorenz von Stein’s Essay on the Prussian Constitution 80 PART II THEORY AND METHOD OF THE HISTORICAL DETERMINATION OF TIME 95 5. Begriffsgeschichte and Social History 97 6. History, Histories, and Formal Time Structures 115 7. Representation, Event, and Structure 127 8. Chance as Motivational Trace in Historical Writing 137 9. Perspective and Temporality: A Contribution to the Historiographical Exposure of the Historical World 150 PART III SEMANTIC REMARKS ON THE MUTATION OF HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE 175 10. The Historical-Political Semantics of Asymmetric Counterconcepts 177 11. On the Disposability of History 214 12. Terror and Dream: Methodological Remarks on the Experience of Time during the Third Reich 227 13. Neuzeit: Remarks on the Semantics of Modern Concepts of Movement 244 14. “Space of Experience” and “Horizon of Expectation”: Two Historical Categories 277 NOTES 299 INDEX 335 Introduction, by Keith Tribe Part I: On the Relation of Past and Future in Modern History Chapter 1 Modernity and the Planes of Historicity Chapter 2 Historia Magistra Vitae: The Dissolution of the Topos into the Perspective of a Modernized Historical Process Chapter 3 Historical Criteria of the Modern Concept of Revolution Chapter 4 Historical Prognosis in Lorenz von Steinis Essay on the Prussian Constitution Part II Theory and Method of the Historical Determination of Time Chapter 5 Begriffsgeschichte and Social History Chapter 6 History, Histories, and Formal Time Structures Chapter 7 Representation, Event, and Structure Chapter 8 Chance as Motivational Trace in Historical Writing Chapter 9 Perspective and Temporality: A Contribution to the Historiographical Exposure of the Historical World Part III Semantic Remarks on the Mutation of Historical Experience Chapter 10 The Historical-Political Semantics of Asymmetric Counterconcepts Chapter 11 On the Disposability of History Chapter 12 Terror and Dream: Methodological Remarks on the Experience of Time during the Third Reich Third Reich Chapter 13 iNeuzeiti: Remarks on the Semantics of Modern Concepts of Movement Chapter 15 iSpace of Experiencei and iHorizon of Expectationi: Two Historical Categories Notes In this provocative and erudite book, Reinhart Koselleck explores the concept of historical time by posing the question: What kind of experience is opened up by the emergence of modernity? Relying on an extraordinary array of witnesses and texts from politicians, philosophers, theologians, and poets to Renaissance paintings and the dreams of German citizens during the Third Reich, Koselleck shows that, with the advent of modernity, the past and the future became "relocated" in relation to each other. History, Koselleck asserts, emerged in the crucial moment of modernity - within which awaited the possibility of utopian fulfillment - as a new temporality providing distinctly new ways of assimilating experience. In the present context of globalization and its resulting crises, the modern world must once again align the experience of past and present. To realize that each present was once an imagined future may help us place ourselves within a temporality organized by human thought and humane ends as much as by the contingencies of uncontrolled events With a new, interpretive introduction by the translator, this revised edition of Koselleck's most acclaimed work is once again available in English. Koselleck explores the concept of historical time by posing the question: What kind of experience is opened up by the emergence of modernity?

in These Fifteen Essays, One Of Germany's Most Distinguished Philosophers Of History Invokes An Extraordinary Array Of Witnesses And Texts To Explore The Concept Of Historical Time.