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Home » Departments and Centres » History and Civilization » Research & Teaching » Seminars » SpringTerm 2012-2013 » Intellectual History: Methods, Debates, Problems

Intellectual History: Methods, Debates, Problems

Research Seminar

Prof. Ann Thomson

Tuesdays 11:00-12:50, sala Belvedere

Secretary: Francesca Parenti

Starts on 8 January 2013

 

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.

Programme


Background reading

  • Mark Bevir, The Logic of the History of Ideas, Cambridge U. P., 1999.
  • R. G. Collingwood, The Idea of History, Oxford U. P., 1946.
  • Michel de Certeau, ‘Faire de l’histoire. Problèmes de méthode et problèmes de sens’, in L’Écriture de l’histoire, Gallimard, 1975, p. 35-76.
  • Donald R. Kelley, The Descent of Ideas. The History of Intellectual History, Ashgate, 2002.
  • Reinhart Kosellek, The Practice of Conceptual History. Timing History, Spacing Concepts, Stanford, 2002.
  • D. La Capra and S. L. Kaplan, eds, Modern European Intellectual History. Reappraisals and New Perspectives, Cornell University Press, 1982.
  • Quentin Skinner, Visions of Politics. Volume I: Regarding Method, Cambridge U. P., 2002.
  • James Tully, Meaning and Context. Quentin Skinner and his Critics, Cambridge U. P., 1988.
  • Richard Whatmore & Brian Young, eds, Palgrave Advances in intellectual history, Palgrave, 2006.
  • Intellectual News, 1, Autumn 1996

 

8 January: Introduction

  • John W. Burrow, ‘Intellectual history in English academic life: reflections on a revolution’, and Duncan Kelly, ‘The politics of intellectual history in twentieth-century Europe’, in Palgrave Advances in intellectual history, ed. Richard Whatmore & Brian Young, Palgrave, 2006, pp. 8-24, 210-230.
  • Duncan Forbes, ‘Aesthetic thoughts on doing the history of ideas’, History of European Ideas, 27:2, (2001), p. 101-113.
  • Anthony Grafton, ‘The History of Ideas: Precept and Practice, 1950–2000 and Beyond’, Journal of the History of Ideas, Jan. 2006, pp. 1-32.
  • Donald R. Kelley, ‘Horizons of Intellectual History: Retrospect, Circumspect, Prospect’, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 48, No. 1 (1987), pp. 143-169.
  • Ernst Schulin, ‘German “Geistesgeschichte”, American “Intellectual History” and French “Histoire des Mentalités” since 1900. A comparison’, History of European Ideas, 1:3, (1981), pp. 195-214.
  • John E. Toews, ‘Intellectual History after the Linguistic Turn: The Autonomy of Meaning and the Irreducibility of Experience’, The American Historical Review, 92 : 4 (1987), pp. 879-907.
  • ‘What is Intellectual History?’, History Today, Vol. 35 Issue 10 (1985), pp. 46-54.

 

15 January: Lovejoy and the history of ideas

  • Arthur O. Lovejoy, ‘Reflections on the History of Ideas’, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 1, No. 1 (1940), pp. 3-23
  • Bhikhu Parekh, R. N. Berki, ‘The History of Political Ideas: A Critique of Q. Skinner’s Methodology’ Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 34, No. 2. (1973), pp. 163-184. (?)
  • Jaakko Hintikka, ‘Gaps in the Great Chain of Being: An Exercise in the Methodology of the History of Ideas’, Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association, Vol. 49 (1975-1976), pp. 22-38.
  • Daniel J. Wilson, ‘Lovejoy’s The Great Chain of Being after Fifty Years’, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 48, No. 2 (1987), pp. 187-206.
  • Dictionary of the History of Ideas, ed. Philip P. Wiener, New York, Scribner, 1968, 1973, Preface

 

22 January: ‘Contextualism’ and the history of political thought, 1

  • John Dunn, ‘The Identity of the History of Ideas’, Philosophy, 43 (1968), pp. 85-104
  • Quentin Skinner, ‘Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas’, History and Theory, Vol. 8, No. 1. (1969), pp. 3-53
  • Interview with Quentin Skinner 
  • Emile Perreau-Saussine ‘Quentin Skinner in Context’, The Review of Politics, Vol. 69, No. 1 (2007), pp. 106-122
  • Knud Haakonssen, ‘The History of Ideas’, in Natural Law and Moral Philosophy, Cambridge, 1996, p. 8-14
  • Joseph M. Levine, ‘Intellectual History as History’, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 66, No. 2 (2005), pp. 189-200.

 

29 January: ‘Contextualism’ and the history of political thought, 2

  • J. G. A. Pocock, ‘The Reconstruction of Discourse: Towards the Historiography of Political Thought’ MLN, Vol. 96, No. 5, Comparative Literature (Dec., 1981), pp. 959-980.
  • J. G. A. Pocock, ‘Introduction. The State of the Art’, Virtue, Commerce and History, Cambridge U. P., 1985, p. 1-34.
  • J. G. A. Pocock, ‘Quentin Skinner. The History of Politics and the Politics of History’, Common Knowledge 10:3 (2004), p. 532-550.
  • Iain Hampsher-Monk, ‘Political Languages in Time - The Work of J. G. A. Pocock’, British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 14, No. 1. (1984), pp. 89-116
  • Mark Bevir, ‘Mind and Method in the History of Ideas, History & Theory, Vol. 36 (1997), pp. 167-189.

 

5 February: Michel Foucault

  • Michel Foucault, Les mots et les choses, Paris, 1966, Préface (pp. 1-16) (translation available)
  • Michel Foucault, L’archéologie du savoir, Paris, 1969, Introduction (translation available); III, iii: La description des énoncés (p.139-154); IV, i: Archéologie et histoire des idées (pp. 177-183)
  • Peter Ghosh, ‘Citizen or subject? Michel Foucault in the history of ideas’, History of European Ideas, 24 : 2 (1998), pp. 113-159.
  • Hayden White, ‘Foucault Decoded: Notes from Underground’, in Tropics of Discourse, Johns Hopkins U. P., 1978, pp. 230-260.

 

12 February: Language and Discourse

  • Dominick La Capra, ‘Rethinking Intellectual History and Reading Texts’, History and Theory 19 no. 3. (1980), pp. 245-276.
  • Dominick La Capra, ‘Tropisms of Intellectual History’, Rethinking History, 8:4 (2004), pp. 499-529.
  • William J. Bouwsma, Review of Modern European Intellectual History,  History & Theory, Vol. 23 Issue 2 (1984), pp. 229-236.
  • Michael Ermarth, ‘Mindful Matters: The Empire’s New Codes and the Plight of Modern European Intellectual History’, Journal of Modern History, Vol. 57, No. 3 (1985), pp. 506-527.
  • Anthony Pagden, ‘Rethinking the Linguistic Turn: Current Anxieties in Intellectual History’, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 49, No. 3 (1988), pp. 519-529.

 

19 February: Intellectual History, the history of mentalities, cultural history

  • Lucien Febvre, ‘Contre le vain tournois des idées. Une étude sur l’esprit politique de la Réforme’ (1927) in Combats pour l’histoire, 1952.
  • Henri Berr, ‘Avant-propos’, in Lucien Febvre, Le problème de l’incroyance au XVIe siècle. La religion de Rabelais (1947) : classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/febvre_lucien/probleme_incroyance_16e/incroyance_16e_avant_propos.html
  • Roger Chartier, ‘Histoire intellectuelle et histoire des mentalités’ (1983), in Au bord de la falaise, Paris, 1998, pp. 27-66 (in English in : Modern European Intellectual History. Reappraisals and New Perspectives, ed. D. La Capra and S. L. Kaplan, Cornell University Press, 1982, pp. 13-46).
  • Robert Darnton, ‘Intellectual and cultural history’, in The Past Before us : Contemporary historical writing in the United States, ed. Michael Kammen, Cornell, 1980, pp. 327-354.
  • Daniel Wickberg, ‘Intellectual History vs. the Social History of Intellectuals’, Rethinking History, 5:3, (2001), p. 383-395.

 

26 February: Intellectual History and Begriffsgeschichte

  • Reinhart Koselleck, ‘Social History and Conceptual History’, International Journal of Politics, Culture & Society, 1989, Vol. 2 Issue 3, p. 308-326; also in : The Practice of Conceptual History. Timing History, Spacing Concepts, Stanford, 2002
  • Melvin Richter, ‘Begriffsgeschichte and the History of Ideas’, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 48, No. 2 (1987), pp. 247-263
  • John G. Gunnell, ‘Time and Interpretation: Understanding  Concepts  and  Conceptual  Change’ History of Political Thought, vol. XIX. No. 4. (1998), pp. 641-658
  • Mark Bevir, ‘Begriffsgeschichte’, History & Theory, 39 :2 (2000), p. 273-284.
  • Jerry Z. Muller, James Schmidt & Daniel Gordon, ‘Discussion’, History of European Ideas, 25:1-2 (1999), pp. 3-7, 9-14, 23-29.

 

1 March One day workshop on Intellectual History today

 

12 March: Intellectual History and the history of philosophy

  • François Azouvi, ‘Pour une histoire philosophique des idées’, Le Débat, 1992/5 n° 72, pp. 16-26.
  • Conal Condren, Stephen Gaukroger, Ian Hunter, ‘Introduction’, The Philosopher in Early Modern europe. The Nature of a Contested Identity, Cambridge U. P., 2006.
  • Maurice Mandelbaum, ‘The History of Ideas, Intellectual History, and the History of Philosophy’, History and Theory 4 (1964-1965), Beiheft 5, pp. 33-66.
  • Richard Rorty, ‘The Historiography of Philosophy: four genres’, in Philosophy in History. Essays on the historiography of philosophy, ed. R. Rorty, J. B. Schneewind, Q. Skinner, Cambridge U. P., 1984, pp. 49-76.
  • Ulrich Johannes Schneider, ‘Intellectual History and the History of Philosophy’, Intellectual News, 1, Autumn 1996, pp. 28-30.

 

19 March: Current debates

  • David Armitage, ‘What’s the Big Idea? Intellectual History and the Longue Durée’, History of European Ideas (2012)
  • Jonathan I. Israel, ‘Historians and the writing of “Intellectual History”’, in Enlightenment Contested, Oxford U. P., 2006, pp. 15-26.
  • Anthony J. La Vopa, ‘A New Intellectual History ? Jonathan Israel’s Enlightenment’, The Historical Journal, 52, 3 (2009), pp. 717-738.
  • Allan Megill, ‘Globalization and the History of Ideas’, Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 66, No. 2 (2005), pp. 179-187
  •  ‘Regards sur l’histoire intellectuelle’, Revue d’Histoire Moderne et Contemporaine, n° 59-4 bis, 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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