Introduction: Seeing things their way
Chapter – 1
- Facts as an indisputable foundation have been questioned by recent philosophical critiques, challenging the empiricist belief in sense data as directly perceivable and describable.
- The post-empiricist critique has led to the rejection of building factual knowledge independent of judgments, influencing the work of historians.
- Chapter 2 critiques the view that historians should aim for objective assembly of all facts, proposing a more realistic approach to evidence.
- Chapter 3 argues that the concept of truth is irrelevant in explaining beliefs, especially when studying alien culturesor historical societies with seemingly false beliefs.
- The theory of meaning has further challenged the notion that statements must refer to facts, with critiques from Quineand Wittgenstein emphasizing the diverse uses of language over fixed meanings.
- The speech act theory (Austin, Searle) highlights that language involves actions, not just statements, influencing historical interpretation of texts.
- Grice’s work on intentionality and meaning shifts focus from meanings to agency and purpose, broadening linguistic analysis.
- Chapters 4-6 advocate understanding historical texts within their intellectual contexts, criticizing approaches that impose modern perennial issues on past thinkers.
- Emphasizes the need to appreciate what authors were doing through their writing, using historical techniques to grasp their concepts, beliefs, and distinctions.
- Distinguishes between the dimension of meaning (sense and reference of words) and linguistic action (what speakers achieve through words), aligning with Wittgenstein’s idea that “words are also deeds.”
- Reflection on speech as action led to exploring the philosophy of action and causality in explaining behavior, culminating in the argument that motives can function as causes while allowing for non-causal explanations of action.
- Addressed roles of beliefs, rationality, and assessments of rationality in explaining behavior, refining earlier failed attempts through holistic approaches inspired by Quine, Davidson, and Wittgenstein.
- Focuses on interpreting concepts through their uses, relationships, and broader belief systems, emphasizing the role of context in rational belief evaluation.
- Highlights post-modern critiques on language, revealing its rhetorical functions in claiming authority, shaping inclusion/exclusion, and exercising social control.
- Examines rhetorical strategies in constructing and redefining the social world, illustrating how normative descriptions legitimize behavior and how language can reinforce or challenge social structures.
- Criticized for treating philosophy as purely historical, but defends the approach as contributing to understanding the present social world by exposing the choices underlying inherited values.
- Argues that studying the past can liberate us from dominant intellectual traditions, offering broader possibilities for interpreting moral, social, and political values.
- Demonstrates how philosophical arguments often intertwine with social power, suggesting no one is above the battlefield of ideological disputes.
- Proposes privileging agency over structure in social explanation, recognizing language as both a constraint and a resource for shaping the world.
- Concludes with a political plea to recognize the power of normative language to challenge or sustain practices, asserting that freedom lies in the creative use of language.