History of Philosophy and Historiography

Why Study the History of Philosophy?

• Intrinsic and Instrumental Value:
  • Provides a more accurate understanding of our philosophical past.
  • Informs contemporary approaches to philosophy.
  • Offers arguments, ideas, and theories for contemporary debates.
  • Inspires contemporary philosophers.
  • Helps contemporary philosophers better understand debates and ideas relevant to them by understanding the development of philosophical ideas.

How to Study the History of Philosophy

• Three main approaches:
  • Presentist
  • Contextualist
  • Hermeneutic

Presentist Approach

• Description:
  • Examines philosophical texts for arguments.
  • Judges the relevance of their conclusions to contemporary philosophical concerns.
  • Holds past philosophers to present standards.
• Strengths:
  • Allows us to benefit from past wisdom.
  • Examples:
    • Confucian proverb: "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."
    • Edmund Burke (1729-1797), as restated by John F. Kennedy: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
    • Applying Occam's razor: the simplest explanation is usually the best.
• Weaknesses:
  • Neglects the historical and cultural contexts of past philosophers.
  • Downplays the ways philosophers communicate and persuade.
  • Can lead to anachronism, judging past philosophers by contemporary standards.
  • May inaccurately attribute contemporary ideas to historical philosophers.
• Example of Anachronism:
  • Plato's Allegory of the Cave:
    • Reading it solely in terms of epistemology or metaphysics is anachronistic.
    • The allegory has political significance specific to Plato's time and context.
    • Athens suffered defeat in the Peloponnesian War.
    • The Democratic government was replaced by the Thirty Tyrants.
    • Plato questioned the limits of human understanding and aimed to solve problems inherent in tyrannical and democratic governments.
    • Plato's political project sought to foster individuals with a greater understanding of truth for government service.

Contextualist Approach

• Description:
  • Understands historical philosophy on its own terms.
  • Uses concepts and ideas appropriate to the time period.
  • Focuses on getting the history right.
• Strengths:
  • Provides a richer understanding of philosophical ideas.
  • Helps avoid misinterpretations.
• Example:
  • "An eye for an eye" in the Hebrew Bible:
    • Often misinterpreted as justification for violence.
    • Reflects laws meant to restrict retaliation.
    • Biblical law aimed to prevent the escalation of violence by setting limits to retribution.
    • Monetary equivalence for wrongdoing was established to avoid physical harm.
• Weaknesses:
  • Danger of falling into antiquarianism:
    • Interested in history for its own sake.
    • Ignoring the instrumental value for contemporary philosophers.

Hermeneutic Approach

• Description:
  • Addresses problems of presentist and contextualist approaches.
  • Takes historical context seriously.
  • Recognizes that interpretation is conditioned by our contemporary context.
  • Philosophical ideas are historical in nature.
• Key Points:
  • Contemporary philosophers cannot abandon their contemporary framework.
  • The context of historical authors influenced their texts.
  • Philosophical concepts are tied to the historical process that generated them.
• Weaknesses:
  • Tendency to think about history as culminating in the present.
  • The "a, then b, then c, then me" perspective.
  • Ought not assume that history has a purpose or progression.
  • The sequence of historical events may lack any goal.

Summary of Approaches