
Narration and Knowledge
Introducion by Lydia Goehr
Arthur C. Danto(Author)
Columbia University Press
3rd Edition
Published on 17. April 2007
Book
Paperback/Softback
504 pages
978-0-231-13823-9 (ISBN)
Description
Now in its third edition, Narration and Knowledge is a classic work exploring the nature of historical knowledge and its reliance on narrative. Analytical philosopher Arthur C. Danto introduces the concept of "narrative sentences," in which an event is described with reference to later events (for example, "the Thirty Years' War began in 1618") and discusses why such sentences cannot be understood until the later event happens (no one could have said in 1618 that "the Thirty Years' War began today"). Danto compares narrative and scientific explanation and explores the legitimacy of historical laws. He also argues that history is an autonomous and humanist discipline incapable of being reduced to scientific descriptions. Lydia Goehr's new introduction illustrates Danto's main arguments by questioning her very role, first, as an introducer of a book that has not yet been read by readers and, second, as an interpreter of a book written forty years ago. Frank Ankersmit's conclusion revisits the initial impact of the publication of Narration and Knowledge and considers its enduring legacy.
Reviews / Votes
One of the few comprehensive attempts to approach basic problems in the philosophy of history from the viewpoint of analytical philosophy. American Historical Review A substantial work which covers a wide range of philosophical problems about history, and indeed extends to a consideration of some logical features of our whole language of time. Philosophers will admire it for its lucidity and sophistication as well for the author's care and fertility of argument. English Historical ReviewMore details
Edition
3rd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
666 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-231-13823-9 (9780231138239)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
04/2007
3rd Edition
Columbia University Press
€108.94
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Persons
Arthur C. Danto is Johnsonian Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University. His books include The Philosophical Disenfranchisement of Art, Nietzsche as Philosopher (both published by Columbia University Press), and Art in the Historical Present, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Content
Afterwords: An Introduction to Arthur Danto's Narration and Knowledge (including his Analytical Philosophy of History) Lydia Goehr Introduction to the Morningside Edition Preface to Analytical Philosophy of History I Substantive and Analytical Philosophy of History II A Minimal Characterization of History III Three Objections against the Possibility of Historical Knowledge IV Verification, Verifiability, and Tensed Sentences V Temporal Language and Temporal Scepticisms VI Evidence and Historical Relativism VII History and Chronicle VIII Narrative Sentence IX Future-and Past-Contingencies X Historical Explanation: The Problem of General Laws XI Historical Explanation: The Role of Narratives XII Methodological Individualism and Methodological Socialism XIII Historical Understanding: The Problem of Other Periods XIV Historical Language and Historical Reality XV Narration and Knowledge Danto's Philosophy of History in Retrospective Frank Ankersmit Notes Index