The History of Ideas: An introduction to an important branch of intellectual history: how ideas originate, how they evolve in time, and how they shape human thought and action
George Boas
The history of ideas is a field that has only recently been established as a separate profession, and it is the purpose of this book to set forth, as simply as possible, some of the major considerations that are the tasks of the historian of ideas.
"The person who would study the history of ideas must have a kind of curiosity about the human mind and its workings that is not common. He must be willing to treat ideas that seem silly or superstitious and that are perhaps obsolete with the same care as he would give to established truths. For the history of ideas tells us among other things how we got to think the way we do and if that is not of importance, one wonders what is. He must also poke about in odd comers, for ideas are quicksilver in the way they roll about and turn up in places where logic never would have pushed them. Above all, he must be patient about historical causation and not commit himself either to materialism or spiritualism". From the preface
Année:
1969
Editeur::
Charles Scribner's Sons
Langue:
english
Pages:
238
Fichier:
PDF, 11.19 MB
IPFS:
,
english, 1969