Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism Revisited
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2022 |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | História da Historiografia |
Texto Completo: | https://www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br/revista/article/view/1869 |
Resumo: | In this article, I analyse common arguments raised against historical determinism. I refer to the treatment given to the topic by Ernest Nagel in “Determinism in History” (1959). Nagel identifies five different arguments which allegedly show that history is not deterministic and argues that they fall short. I revisit, re-evaluate, and make amendments to these arguments. Special attention is given to one of them: The argument that the emergence of novelties in human affairs would be incompatible with the standard view of determinism. I use the theory of convergent evolution to clarify why novelties cannot be used against the deterministic assumption, especially if by determinism we mean only the ontological sense of the doctrine – which I call uniqueness of evolution – and not predictive determinism. I conclude that common attacks on the possibility of historical determinism are grounded on incomplete human knowledge of the historical world. |
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Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism RevisitedPhilosophy of historyHistorical explanationPositivist historyIn this article, I analyse common arguments raised against historical determinism. I refer to the treatment given to the topic by Ernest Nagel in “Determinism in History” (1959). Nagel identifies five different arguments which allegedly show that history is not deterministic and argues that they fall short. I revisit, re-evaluate, and make amendments to these arguments. Special attention is given to one of them: The argument that the emergence of novelties in human affairs would be incompatible with the standard view of determinism. I use the theory of convergent evolution to clarify why novelties cannot be used against the deterministic assumption, especially if by determinism we mean only the ontological sense of the doctrine – which I call uniqueness of evolution – and not predictive determinism. I conclude that common attacks on the possibility of historical determinism are grounded on incomplete human knowledge of the historical world. Sociedade Brasileira de Teoria e História da Historiografia, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro2022-12-31info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionAvaliado pelos paresapplication/pdfhttps://www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br/revista/article/view/186910.15848/hh.v15i40.1869História da Historiografia: International Journal of Theory and History of Historiography; Vol. 15 No. 40 (2022); 32-59História da Historiografia: International Journal of Theory and History of Historiography; Vol. 15 Núm. 40 (2022); 32-59História da Historiografia: International Journal of Theory and History of Historiography; v. 15 n. 40 (2022); 32-591983-9928reponame:História da Historiografiainstname:Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP)instacron:UFOPenghttps://www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br/revista/article/view/1869/1006Copyright (c) 2022 Alexander Maarhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessMaar, Alexander2022-12-31T16:27:56Zoai:ojs.www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br:article/1869Revistahttps://www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br/revistaPUBhttps://www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br/revista/oaivaldei354@gmail.com || historiadahistoriografia@hotmail.com1983-99281983-9928opendoar:2022-12-31T16:27:56História da Historiografia - Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP)false |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism Revisited |
title |
Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism Revisited |
spellingShingle |
Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism Revisited Maar, Alexander Philosophy of history Historical explanation Positivist history |
title_short |
Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism Revisited |
title_full |
Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism Revisited |
title_fullStr |
Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism Revisited |
title_full_unstemmed |
Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism Revisited |
title_sort |
Notes on Ernest Nagel’s Philosophy of History: Historical Determinism Revisited |
author |
Maar, Alexander |
author_facet |
Maar, Alexander |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Maar, Alexander |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Philosophy of history Historical explanation Positivist history |
topic |
Philosophy of history Historical explanation Positivist history |
description |
In this article, I analyse common arguments raised against historical determinism. I refer to the treatment given to the topic by Ernest Nagel in “Determinism in History” (1959). Nagel identifies five different arguments which allegedly show that history is not deterministic and argues that they fall short. I revisit, re-evaluate, and make amendments to these arguments. Special attention is given to one of them: The argument that the emergence of novelties in human affairs would be incompatible with the standard view of determinism. I use the theory of convergent evolution to clarify why novelties cannot be used against the deterministic assumption, especially if by determinism we mean only the ontological sense of the doctrine – which I call uniqueness of evolution – and not predictive determinism. I conclude that common attacks on the possibility of historical determinism are grounded on incomplete human knowledge of the historical world. |
publishDate |
2022 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2022-12-31 |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Avaliado pelos pares |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br/revista/article/view/1869 10.15848/hh.v15i40.1869 |
url |
https://www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br/revista/article/view/1869 |
identifier_str_mv |
10.15848/hh.v15i40.1869 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br/revista/article/view/1869/1006 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2022 Alexander Maar https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
rights_invalid_str_mv |
Copyright (c) 2022 Alexander Maar https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Sociedade Brasileira de Teoria e História da Historiografia, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Sociedade Brasileira de Teoria e História da Historiografia, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
História da Historiografia: International Journal of Theory and History of Historiography; Vol. 15 No. 40 (2022); 32-59 História da Historiografia: International Journal of Theory and History of Historiography; Vol. 15 Núm. 40 (2022); 32-59 História da Historiografia: International Journal of Theory and History of Historiography; v. 15 n. 40 (2022); 32-59 1983-9928 reponame:História da Historiografia instname:Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP) instacron:UFOP |
instname_str |
Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP) |
instacron_str |
UFOP |
institution |
UFOP |
reponame_str |
História da Historiografia |
collection |
História da Historiografia |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
História da Historiografia - Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP) |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
valdei354@gmail.com || historiadahistoriografia@hotmail.com |
_version_ |
1797220360532262912 |