The Metaphysics of Western Historiography

Title

The Metaphysics of Western Historiography

Author

Hayden White

Page

1-16

DOI

Abstract

history, temporality, conversion, fulfillment, renaissance

Keyword

In the West, after the decline of religion and the destruction of metaphysics by the modern natural sciences, history has come–by default–to stand as the basis, the founda- tion, the arche of a specifically human mode of existence. It is a mistake, however, to think that history describes a linear, cyclical, or sinusoidal process of development. On the contrary, what is unique about the Western idea of history is the notion of rebirth, revival, or reformation, the idea that it is possible always to begin again. Whence the popularity of the notions of Renaissance, Reformation Revolution, Rebirth, and so on for characterizing historical processes in the West. These notions of revival and rebirth de- rive, it would seem, from the peculiarly Christian idea that meaningful temporality de- scribes a process of expectation and fulfillment. This idea translates the Christian notion of conversion, which holds that a person can remain the same while undergoing, thanks to the power of grace, a catastrophic transformation in the depths of his/her soul.

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