History as Re-enactment: R. G. Collingwood's Idea of History: R.G.Collingwood's "Idea of History"

This book explains and defends a central ideas in the theory of history put forward by R. G. Collingwood, perhaps the foremost philosopher of history in the 20th century. Professor Dray analyses critically the idea of re-enactment, explores the limits of its applicability, and determines its relationship to other key Collingwoodian ideas, such as the role of imagination in historical thinking, and the indispensability of a point of view. Frontmatter Abbreviations (page xi) 1. HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY (page 1) 1. Collingwood's Status and Reception (page 1) 2. The Aims of this Book (page 5) 3. Sources (page 10) 4. Collingwood on Philosophy of History (page 16) 5. Collingwood on the Nature and Rise of History (page 21) 6. Collingwood as Writer and Thinker (page 27) 2. RE-ENACTMENT AND UNDERSTANDING (page 32) 1. The Idea of Re-enactment (page 32) 2. A Paradigm Case (page 34) 3. The Inside-Outside View of Action (page 38) 4. Knowing What and Knowing Why (page 44) 5. Re-enactment as Critical (page 52) 6. Mis-statements of Re-enactment (page 57) 7. History as Knowledge of the Individual (page 60) 3. RE-ENACTMENT AND LAWS (page 67) 1. Collingwood on Scientific Explanation (page 67) 2. Re-enactive Explanation and Completeness (page 72) 3. The Logical Connection Analysis (page 80) 4. Re-enactive and Scientific Explanation (page 87) 5. Re-enactive Explanation and Determinism (page 92) 6. Collingwood's Generalizations (page 99) 4. INTELLECT, RATIONALITY, FEELING (page 108) 1. The Scope of Re-enactment (page 108) 2. Collingwood's Supposed Intellectualism (page 109) 3. The Assumption of Rationality (page 115) 4. Perception, Appetite, Emotion (page 123) 5. The History of Art (page 132) 6. The History of Metaphysics (page 140) 5. THE PHYSICAL AND THE SOCIAL (page 150) 1. Objective Conditions (page 150) 2. The Physical Background (page 151) 3. Physical Causes of Actions (page 157) 4. Social Events and Conditions (page 164) 5. Social Reductionism (page 171) 6. Social Causes and Effects (page 177) 7. The Corporate Mind (page 184) 6. THE HISTORICAL IMAGINATION (page 191) 1. Re-enactment and Imagination (page 191) 2. The A Priori Imagination (page 193) 3. Coherence, Continuity, Necessity (page 200) 4. Historical Understanding as Synthesis (page 211) 5. Universal History (page 221) 7. THE IDEALITY OF HISTORY (page 229) 1. Historical Scepticism (page 229) 2. The Problem of Incompleteness (page 233) 3. The Problem of the Non-existent Past (page 239) 4. Anti-constructionism in Collingwood (page 243) 5. Ambiguous Anti-constructionism (page 249) 6. Lapses into Constructionism (page 257) 7. Acquaintance and Actuality (page 263) 8. THE PERSPECTIVITY OF HISTORY (page 271) 1. Historical Relativism (page 271) 2. Point of View in History (page 274) 3. Relativity to the Present (page 283) 4. The History of History (page 291) 5. Presentism and Retrospectivity (page 297) 6. Retrospective Historical Understanding (page 307) 7. Reality and Anachronism (page 315) EPILOGUE (page 323) Bibliography (page 328) Index (page 337) A central motif of R. G. Collingwood's philosophy of history is the idea that historical understanding requires a re-enactment of past experience. However, there have been sharp disagreements about the acceptability of this idea, and even its meaning. This book aims to advance the critical discussion in three ways: by analysing the idea itself further, concentrating especially on the contrast which Collingwood drew between it and scientific understanding; by exploring the limits of its applicability to what historians ordinarily consider their proper subject-matter; and by clarifying the relationship between it and some other key Collingwoodian ideas, such as the place of imagination in historical inquiry, the sense in which history deals with the individual, the essential perspectivity of historical judgement, and the importance of narrative and periodization in historical thinking. Professor Dray defends Collingwood against a good deal of recent criticism, while pointing to ways in which his position requires revision or development. History as Re-enactment draws upon a wide range of Collingwood's published writings, and makes considerable use of his unpublished manuscripts. It is the most systematic study yet of this central doctrine of Collingwood's philosophy of history, and will stand as a landmark in Collingwood studies. 'For many years William Dray has been working at the task of retrieving Collingwood for contemporary philosophy. . . . It is something of an event then to have this new work, the culmination of a lifetime of thought, appear in his retirement. As one would expect, it is a deeply considered book, lucidly written, and scrupulously fair to all parties . . . a sound and serious philosophical commentary . . . anyone interested in either Collingwood or the philosophy of history should consider joining the dialogue and will learn much in the process.' Canadian Journal of History A central motif of R.G. Collingwood's philosophy of history is the idea that historical understanding requires a re-enactment of past experience. However, there have been sharp disagreements about the acceptability of this idea, and even its meaning. This book aims to advance the critical discussion in three ways: by analysing the idea itself further, concentrating especially upon the contrast which Collingwood drew between it and scientific understanding; by exploring the limits of its applicability to what historians ordinarily consider their proper subject-matter; and by clarifying the relationship between it and some other key Collingwoodian ideas, such as the place of imagination in historical inquiry, the sense in which history deals with the individual, the essential perspectivity of historical judgement, and the importance of narrative and periodization in historical thinking W. H. Dray examines a central idea in R. G. Collingwood's philosophy of history, that historical understanding requires a re-enactment of past experience. He analyses it, explores its applicability to the practice of history, and considers its relation to other key Collingwoodian ideas. This is the most systematic study yet of this doctrine, and will stand as a landmark in Collingwood studies and in philosophy of history A central motif of R.G. Collingwood's philosophy of history is the idea that historical understanding requires a re-enactment of past experience. This text analyzes that idea; explores the limits of its applicability; and clarifies the relationship between it and other key Collingwoodian ideas. If the philosophy of history is now in a flourishing state in English-speaking countries and in countries where English is read, this is due in no small measure to the stimulus provided by the writings of R. G. Collingwood.