The Modern Idea of History and its Value
An Introduction
Published on 1. October 2025
170 pages
978-1-040-78858-5 (ISBN)
Description
This is an original and accessible introduction to the modern idea of history and its value, and an indispensable companion to the study of history and its philosophical underpinnings.
The book answers two basic questions: What is history? And what is its value? It also shows how the answers to these questions are mutually dependent. The old view that history is the teacher of life, for instance, assumes that the past is a reservoir of examples from which moral lessons for the present can be drawn.
The subjects discussed include history as the teacher of life, the need for truth and objectivity, the moral standards of the historian, realism and the value of historical insight, historical explanation and understanding, the intelligibility of the historical process, the tragedy of history, the politics of history-writing, and the close connection between history, narrative, and the desire for justice.
These topics are discussed with the help of inspiring and influential historians and philosophers such as Thucydides, Ranke, Hegel, Nietzsche, Collingwood, Arendt, White, Hunt, and Ankersmit.
The book answers two basic questions: What is history? And what is its value? It also shows how the answers to these questions are mutually dependent. The old view that history is the teacher of life, for instance, assumes that the past is a reservoir of examples from which moral lessons for the present can be drawn.
The subjects discussed include history as the teacher of life, the need for truth and objectivity, the moral standards of the historian, realism and the value of historical insight, historical explanation and understanding, the intelligibility of the historical process, the tragedy of history, the politics of history-writing, and the close connection between history, narrative, and the desire for justice.
These topics are discussed with the help of inspiring and influential historians and philosophers such as Thucydides, Ranke, Hegel, Nietzsche, Collingwood, Arendt, White, Hunt, and Ankersmit.
Reviews / Votes
Van den Akker's discussion of historical insight raises questions of subjectivity, objectivity, and normativity, and the different points of view from which these may be understood. [...] [The book] is accurately subtitled An Introduction so I surmise its intended readership is mainly second-or third-year history majors in order to give them a brief overview of the nature of their discipline. And indeed, it is admirably suited to that purpose.- Karl Pfeifer, University of Saskatchewan & Monash University, International Network for the Theory of History, 2021,[...] a very good and inspiring introduction to substantive and classic questions of philosophy of history from the point of view of somebody who takes seriously the challenges of the New Philosophy of History (post White and Ankersmit). Van den Akker, certainly himself a new philosopher of history, manages very well to lead the reader unfamiliar with authors from various traditions and different times in a keen and accessible way to show their relevance to our contemporary concerns.,- Veronica Tozzi Thompson, Journal of the Philosophy of History, Vol. 16, Iss. 2
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
File size
3,34 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-040-78858-5 (9781040788585)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
08/2020
Amsterdam University Press
€25.00
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Dr. Chiel van den Akker is lecturer Historical Theory at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He is the author of Elementaire Deeltjes - Geschiedenis (Athenaeum 2019) and The Exemplifying Past. A Philosophy of History (Amsterdam University Press 2018).
Content
1. Introduction: the use and abuse of history 2. The first historian 3. Historicism 4. Causes and reasons 5. Talent and insight 6. The historical sublime 7. Conclusion: the historian's responsibility.
