Philosophy of History

With a recent surge of interest in the field, a volume taking stock of important theoretical shifts in the philosophy of history is greatly needed. A Philosophy of History fills this gap by weaving together a range of perspectives on the field which finds itself at a crossroads, and asks where it is headed in the 21st century. The book takes a concerted effort to go beyond the customary three-fold distinction between the speculative, analytic and narrativist approaches in philosophy of history. It considers, what comes after the enduring 'narrativist turn'. Chapters incorporate cutting-edge discussions on the relevance of contemporary political phenomena such as populism, the relation between science and history, pragmatism and the paradigmatic challenge of the Anthropocene. It also re-evaluates the continued relevance of major historical thinkers like Leibniz and R.G. Collingwood, and the endlessly fresh insights they can offer to key debates in the field today. Philosophy of History is a much-needed reappraisal of the philosophy and theory of history; offering an up-to-date overview of major developments in the field, and addressing the pressing questions of where to go next in a 'post-analytical', 'post-narrativist' world.

Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen is Associate Professor in Philosophy at the University of Oulu in Finland. He is the author of Postnarrativist Philosophy of Historiography (2015).

1. A conceptual map for twenty-first-century philosophy of history Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen Part I: Debating key concepts in philosophy of history 2. Encompassing the future Jonathan Gorman 3. Historiographical knowledge as claiming correctly Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen 4. Where the extremes meet Frank Ankersmit 5. Postmodern theory with historical intent: A deconstructive approach to the past Ethan Kleinberg Part II: Popular history, populism and politics 6. The affective dimension: What theory of history can learn from popular history Allan Megill 7. Tales of im/mobility: Unhistorying migration Claire Norton and Mark Donnelly 8. Historical evitability: The return of the philosophy of history Aviezer Tucker Part III: (Re)drawing the boundaries of philosophy of history 9. History and philosophy of history (HPH): A call for cooperation Herman Paul 10. The paradigm shift in the contemporary humanities and social sciences Ewa Domanska 11. More-than-human history: Philosophy of history at the time of the Anthropocene Marek Tamm and Zoltán Boldizsár Simon 12. In defence of a humanistically orientated historiography: The nature/culture distinction at the time of the Anthropocene Giuseppina D'Oro