Part of a Series on the Philosophy of History — Today is the 114th anniversary of the birth of Simone Weil (03 February 1909–24 August 1943), who was born in Paris on this date in 1909. Weil lived a short life and died at the age of 34 in 1943. Recently in my birthday profile for John Lukacs I grouped…

Part of a Series on the Philosophy of History — Today is the 99th anniversary of the birth of John Lukacs (31 January 1924–06 May 2019), who was born in Budapest, Hungary on this date in 1924. In last year’s post on Lukacs I emphasized the apocalyptic thread the runs through Lukacs’ historiography and the forays he made into philosophy…

Friday 27 January 2023 — In the preface to W. B. Gallie’s Philosophy and the Historical Understanding I happened upon an interesting observation. After citing the work of Windleband, Rickert, Croce, and Collingwood, Gallie writes: “…in history we understand particular thoughts and actions in respect to their aptness or un-aptness for their particular contexts, so…

Part of a Series on the Philosophy of History — Today is the 209th anniversary of the birth of Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc (27 January 1814–17 September 1879), who was born on this date in 1814. Viollet-le-Duc was a major figure in the 19th centuryt Gothic revival, and is primarily remembered for the restoration of medieval castles and cathedrals, such as…

Part of a Series on the Philosophy of History — Today is the 294th anniversary of the birth of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (22 January 1729–15 February 1781), who was born in Kamenz in Saxony on this date in 1729. Last year’s post on Lessing focused on his interest in education and the important role that education plays in the representatives…

Friday 20 January 2023 — I always firmly keep in mind the distinction between knowing something and knowing that one knows something, following more-or-less how Collingwood stated it: “Man, who desires to know everything, desires to know himself. Nor is he only one (even if, to himself, perhaps the most interesting) among the things he…

Part of a Series on the Philosophy of History — Today is the 202nd anniversary of the birth of Ferdinand Gregorovius (19 January 1821–01 May 1891), who was born in Neidenburg, East Prussia (now part of Poland) on this date in 1821. Gregorovius is mostly remembered for his Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter (1859–1872), translated into English as The…

Part of a Series on the Philosophy of History — Today is the 334th anniversary of the birth of Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (18 January 1689–10 February 1755), who was born at the Château de la Brède on this date in 1689. David Carrithers in his paper “Montesquieu’s Philosophy of History” gives an…

Part of a Series on the Philosophy of History — Today is the 109th anniversary of the birth of Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper (15 January 1914–26 January 2003), who was born on this date in 1914. Last year I wrote a longish birthday post on Trevor-Roper, which focused on Trevor-Roper’s criticisms of Toynbee, of universal history, and his thesis of a…