A companion to the philosophy of history and historiography / edited by Aviezer Tucker ; contributors Zaid Ahmad [and forty seven others].

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A COMPANION TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY

The philosophy of historiography examines our representations and knowledge of the past, the relation between evidence, inference, explanation and narrative. Do we possess knowledge of the past? Do we just have probable beliefs about the past, or is historiography a piece of convincing fiction? The philosophy of history is the direct philosophical examination of history, whether it is necessary or contingent, whether it has a direction or whether it is coincidental, and if it has a direction, what it is, and how and why it is unfolding?

The fifty entries in this Companion cover the main issues in the philosophies of historiography and history, including natural history and the practices of historians. Written by an international and multi-disciplinary group of experts, these clearly written entries present a cutting-edge updated picture of current research in the philosophies of historiography and history.

This Companion will be of interest to philosophers, historians, natural historians, and social scientists.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Although central to much of 19th-century philosophy, the philosophy of history moved to the margins in the 20th century, existing as a specialty for historians of philosophy and as a preserve for supposedly disreputable speculations about the course of history. Its place as number 41 in the "Blackwell Companions to Philosophy" series may reflect the position of the field on the margins of philosophy, but this volume does a fine job of showing the field's connections to many of the central concerns of contemporary philosophy. The volume includes 50 essays arranged in four parts. Essays in part 1 provide overviews. Part 2 offers more detailed studies of a variety of problems including evidence, explanation, and narrative. Part 3's essays draw connections with philosophy of science, evolutionary theory, geology, archaeology, and other specialty areas. Part 4 offers essays addressing the traditional schools and issues of philosophy of history and historiography, as well as valuable essays on postmodernism, Muslim philosophy of history, and philosophy of history at the end of the Cold War, among other topics. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers. R. Hudelson University of Wisconsin--Superior