Overview
This book examines the legacy of philosophical idealism in twentieth century British historical and political thought. It demonstrates that the absolute idealism of the nineteenth century was radically transformed by R.G. Collingwood, Michael Oakeshott, and Benedetto Croce. These new idealists developed a new philosophy of history with an emphasis on the study of human agency, and historicist humanism. This study unearths the impact of the new idealism on the thought of a group of prominent revisionist historians in the welfare state period, focusing on E.H. Carr, Isaiah Berlin, G.R. Elton, Peter Laslett, and George Kitson Clark. It shows that these historians used the new idealism to restate the nature of history and to revise modern English history against the backdrop of the intellectual, social and political problems of the welfare state period, thus making new idealist revisionism a key tradition in early postwar historiography.
Full Product Details
Author: Admir Skodo
Publisher: Springer International Publishing AG
Imprint: Springer International Publishing AG
Edition: Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2016
Dimensions:
Width: 14.80cm
, Height: 1.70cm
, Length: 21.00cm
Weight: 4.049kg
ISBN: 9783319805597
ISBN 10: 3319805592
Pages: 301
Publication Date: 30 May 2018
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
The Afterlife of Idealism is a rich history that covers a complex landscape of political theory, historical writing, and social criticism from early post-war Britain. ... the book is for a wide range of readers, from intellectual historians to those interested in the history of philosophy and historiography. (Julia Moses, European Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 26, 2018)
“The Afterlife of Idealism is a rich history that covers a complex landscape of political theory, historical writing, and social criticism from early post-war Britain. … the book is for a wide range of readers, from intellectual historians to those interested in the history of philosophy and historiography.” (Julia Moses, European Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 26, 2018) “The Afterlife of Idealism offers another perspective on British historiography in one of its most fecund phases. In Skodo’s book Carr’s What is History? is not the starting point of post-war historical reflection; post-war historians were already caught up in historical philosophising and philosophical history. After The Afterlife of Idealism, Elton, Clark, Laslett, et al. are far harder to pigeon hole, far more plural in their predilections than may be popularly imagined.” (Jamie Melrose, Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice, October, 2017)
Author Information
Admir Skodo is a researcher at Lund University, Sweden.
