Product Description

Published here for the first time in paperback is much of a final and long-anticipated work on philosophy of history by the renowned Oxford philosopher, historian, and archaeologist R. G. Collingwood (1889-1943). The original text of this uncompleted work was only recently discovered in the archives of Oxford University Press. Also found there were two conclusions written by Collingwood for lectures which were eventually revised and published as The Idea of Nature, but which have relevance to his philosophy of history as well. These pieces are included in this volume, accompanied by further short writings by Collingwood on historical knowledge and inquiry, selected from previously unpublished manuscripts held at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. All these writings, besides containing entirely new ideas, discuss further many of the issues which Collingwood is famous for having raised in The Idea of History and in his Autobiography. A lengthy editorial introduction sets these writings in their context, and discusses philosophical questions to which they give rise. The editors also consider why Collingwood left The Principles of History unfinished at his death, and what significance should be attached to the fact that it contains no reference to one of his best-known ideas: that of historical understanding as re-enactment. This volume will be a significant publication not just in Collingwood studies but in philosophy of history generally.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #978366 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

About the Author
R. G. Collingwood was Waynflete Professor of Metaphysical Philosophy in the University of Oxford from 1935 to 1941.
W. H. Dray is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Ottawa; he has held visiting apptoinments at Toronto, Harvard, Stanford, and Duke Universities, among others.
W. J. van der Dussen is Professor of Humanities at the Open University of the Netherlands