
Imagination and Critique
Two Rival Versions of Historical Inquiry
James R. L. Noland(Author)
Springer (Publisher)
Published on 29. March 2010
Book
Hardback
X, 200 pages
978-90-481-3803-6 (ISBN)
Description
This book is most easily described as philosophy of history; however, this descr- tion may be a little misleading. Truly, this is a work of applied philosophy that was originally conceived not in a philosophy seminar but in a school of public policy. As a philosopher learning about the study of public policy formation, I was f- quently struck by what I perceived to be two very different sets of assumptions and methods at work. I found these assumptions and methods to be mutually exclusive conceptually, but they were often employed simultaneously. On the one hand, it was often accepted as given when studying past policy changes and political events that history is shaped by impersonal forces, that p- ple's actions can, and ought only to be understood as manifestations of their own material interests, and that individuals are to be identi?ed as representatives of their respective demographic categories. Thus, for example, the events in question were explained in terms of the race or class of the various parties. When such an approach was challenged with an appeal to the actual arguments and stated rationales of the participants of the historical moment in question, this was taken to be an option that might be employed either in conjunction with the former method or as an alter- tive. Which method one chose to emphasize or employ exclusively seemed more a function of inclination or intuition than rational adjudication.
More details
Series
Edition
2010 ed.
Language
English
Place of publication
Dordrecht
Netherlands
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Research
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
X, 200 p.
Dimensions
Height: 243 mm
Width: 167 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
404 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-481-3803-6 (9789048138036)
DOI
10.1007/978-90-481-3804-3
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
05/2012
Springer
€106.99
Shipment within 15-20 days

E-Book
03/2010
Springer
€96.29
Available for download
Content
The Story of the Federal Income Tax: A Case Study.- Vico and the Faculty of Imagination.- Marx's Critique of History.- Addressing Marx Through Rawls.- Ideology and the Problem of Naming.- Imagination in Practice.- What's the Matter with What's the Matter with Kansas?.- Freeing Anthropology from Critique.- Imagination and the Possibility of Civil Politics.