Seminar description
Intellectual history, at the intersection of several disciplines and lacking a clear institutional status, is the subject of permanent debate and even disagreement as to its scope and subject matter, and whether it constitutes a separate field of history. In addition, the variety of national traditions, as well as differing conceptions of what is covered by labels such as the history of ideas, history of mentalities, or Begriffsgeschichte, often lead to confusion and misunderstanding. We are arguably at an interesting time for intellectual history, with greater exchange between practitioners from different national and intellectual traditions. It therefore seems a good moment to take stock in the light of the recent history of intellectual history. The aim of this seminar, open to all those interested in the study of ideas as historical phenomena, is to reflect on the different ways of understanding what is involved in intellectual history and the problems raised by its study, to confront the main recent approaches and their implications, and to try to understand the present state of the discipline.
We will look at the place of intellectual history within historical studies, the methodological debates since the mid-twentieth century, the main theoretical approaches, as well as its relationship with other fields of history and the dialogue with, in particular, the history of political thought, cultural history, and the history of philosophy. Sessions will be structured around readings from both methodological writings by leading practitioners and critics, together with some case studies illustrating the practice of intellectual history. Participants will be encouraged to discuss their approaches and the relevance to their own research of different methodological options.