1 minute read
History / Philosophy of History
Frank Ankersmit
Advertisement
a powerful and provocative contribution to the debate about the nature of historical writing
Frank Ankersmit is the author of many books and essays on the theory of history. In this original work, he provides, for the first time, a systematic account of his understanding of the nature of historical writing. This rehabilitation of historicism will surprise many, as will the way in which Ankersmit goes about it. Ankersmit argues that the historicist account of historical writing (from Herder, via Ranke and Humboldt, to Dilthey) is correct but needs to be translated from its original romanticist vocabulary into a more modern philosophical idiom. This translation, he maintains, ‘reveals the basic truths about the nature of the past itself, how we relate to it, and how we make sense of the past in historical writing.’
‘In my view, Frank Ankersmit, is the most original and important philosopher of history writing today. There is no question but that he knows this field inside out – he seems to have read virtually everything relevant to it. Even more important he has an original and extremely stimulating perspective on the object of philosophy of history, namely, the human attempt to come to grips with the past. Meaning, Truth and Reference in Historical Representation significantly clarifies Ankersmit’s views and claims.’ – Allan Megill, University of Virginia, author of Historical Knowledge, Historical Error: A Contemporary Guide to Practice
‘What is not in this book I consider of no relevance to the proper understanding of ‘historical writing’.’ – from the Preface
frank ankersmit is emeritus professor of intellectual history and philosophy of history at Groningen University, a recipient of the university’s medal of honour, and a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. € 32,50 / £28.00 isbn 978 90 5867 914 7 05/2012 15,6 x 23,5 cm Paperback 264 p. nur 687 English
Co-edition with Cornell University Press Selling rights for Europe
