What Is History For? : : Johann Gustav Droysen and the Functions of Historiography / / Arthur Alfaix Assis.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Berghahn Books Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
• VerfasserIn: Assis, Arthur Alfaix,
• Place / Publishing House: New York; , Oxford : : Berghahn Books, , [2014]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Series: Making Sense of History ; 17
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (242 p.)

A scholar of Hellenistic and Prussian history, Droysen developed a historical theory that at the time was unprecedented in range and depth, and which remains to the present day a valuable key for understanding history as both an idea and a professional practice. Arthur Alfaix Assis interprets Droysen’s theoretical project as an attempt to redefine the function of historiography within the context of a rising criticism of exemplar theories of history, and focuses on Droysen’s claim that the goal underlying historical writing and reading should be the development of the subjective capacity to think historically. In addition, Assis examines the connections and disconnections between Droysen’s theory of historical thinking, his practice of historical thought, and his political activism. Ultimately, Assis not only shows how Droysen helped reinvent the relationship between historical knowledge and human agency, but also traces some of the contradictions and limitations inherent to that project.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- CHAPTER 1 Functions of Historiography until the Mid-nineteenth Century: A Short History of the Problem -- CHAPTER 2 The Theoretical Design of a New Justifi cation -- CHAPTER 3 Historical Thinking and the Genealogy of the Present -- CHAPTER 4 The Politics of Historical Thinking and the Limits of the New Function -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Droysen and His Theory of History -- Bibliography -- Index