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History As the Story of Liberty
Book by Croce, Benedetto
1 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1938
About the author
Benedetto Croce
713 books98 followersFrom 1902, Benedetto Croce, noted Italian historian and critic, wrote the four-volume
Philosophy of the Spirit
as a major work of modern idealism to 1917, and staunchly opposed Fascism.
This politician wrote on numerous topics, including aesthetics. A very strict Catholic family reared Benedetto Croce. After an earthquake in 1883 killed his parents and only sister and buried him for a very long time, he barely survived. From Catholicism around the age of 18 years in 1884, he turned away as an atheist for the rest of his life. After the incident, he inherited fortune of his family and ably lived the rest in relative leisure, which enabled him to devote a great deal of time.
Benedetto Croce served as the minister of education. He openly resisted participation in World War I. He openly hated the party till his death in 1952.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedett...
This politician wrote on numerous topics, including aesthetics. A very strict Catholic family reared Benedetto Croce. After an earthquake in 1883 killed his parents and only sister and buried him for a very long time, he barely survived. From Catholicism around the age of 18 years in 1884, he turned away as an atheist for the rest of his life. After the incident, he inherited fortune of his family and ably lived the rest in relative leisure, which enabled him to devote a great deal of time.
Benedetto Croce served as the minister of education. He openly resisted participation in World War I. He openly hated the party till his death in 1952.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedett...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 8, 2024
A SUPPLEMENT TO CROCE'S EARLIER "THEORY AND PRACTICE" BOOK
Benedetto Croce (1866-1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, and occasional politician. He also wrote History: its theory and practice. He wrote in the Foreword to this 1938 book, "I do not wish to offer this book in replacement of the previous book, but only to add new considerations born of my further studies and stimulated by new experience of life. In conformity with its origin, this book consists of a series of essays which share an implicit unity in the thought which runs through them all." (Pg. 5)
He states early on, "historical judgment is not a variety of knowledge, but it is knowledge itself; it is the form which completely fills and exhausts the field of knowing, leaving no room for anything else." (Pg. 30) He explains, "Historicism... is the affirmation that life and reality are history and history alone. The negative corollary to this affirmation is the negation of the theory which holds that reality can be divided into super-history and history, into a world of ideas and values and a lower world which reflects them... and upon which they must once and for all be imposed, so that an imperfect history... may give way to a rational and perfect reality." (Pg. 63) Later, he adds, "Historicism is creation of appropiate actions, thoughts, or poems, by moving from present awareness of the past; historical culture is the acquired habit of power of so thinking and doing..." (Pg. 312)
He asserts, "Our history is the history of our Soul and the history of the human Soul is the history of the world." (Pg. 109) Later, he observes, "History is about the past-which-is-present, action is of the present, and imagination of the future." (Pg. 280)
He argues that "Marxist ideology is one of the most conspicuous cases ... of the particular tendency ... to introduce concepts into historiography whose origin is passionate and therefore not genuine, concepts which are born of economic and political, moral and religious struggles, and which serve these, but are inept and confusing... whenever they are transported into the theoretical field." (Pg. 195-196)
Croce's two books will be of keen interest to anyone studying the philosophy of history.
Benedetto Croce (1866-1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, and occasional politician. He also wrote History: its theory and practice. He wrote in the Foreword to this 1938 book, "I do not wish to offer this book in replacement of the previous book, but only to add new considerations born of my further studies and stimulated by new experience of life. In conformity with its origin, this book consists of a series of essays which share an implicit unity in the thought which runs through them all." (Pg. 5)
He states early on, "historical judgment is not a variety of knowledge, but it is knowledge itself; it is the form which completely fills and exhausts the field of knowing, leaving no room for anything else." (Pg. 30) He explains, "Historicism... is the affirmation that life and reality are history and history alone. The negative corollary to this affirmation is the negation of the theory which holds that reality can be divided into super-history and history, into a world of ideas and values and a lower world which reflects them... and upon which they must once and for all be imposed, so that an imperfect history... may give way to a rational and perfect reality." (Pg. 63) Later, he adds, "Historicism is creation of appropiate actions, thoughts, or poems, by moving from present awareness of the past; historical culture is the acquired habit of power of so thinking and doing..." (Pg. 312)
He asserts, "Our history is the history of our Soul and the history of the human Soul is the history of the world." (Pg. 109) Later, he observes, "History is about the past-which-is-present, action is of the present, and imagination of the future." (Pg. 280)
He argues that "Marxist ideology is one of the most conspicuous cases ... of the particular tendency ... to introduce concepts into historiography whose origin is passionate and therefore not genuine, concepts which are born of economic and political, moral and religious struggles, and which serve these, but are inept and confusing... whenever they are transported into the theoretical field." (Pg. 195-196)
Croce's two books will be of keen interest to anyone studying the philosophy of history.
July 30, 2014
Well Benedetto Croce is pretty verbose. Here's the summary in his foreword:
"Historical thought is born in an extremely complicated and delicate dialectical process out of the passion of practical life, transcending the latter and getting free of it in a pure judgment of truth."
I now suggest skipping forwards to the short chapter titled after the book title, "History as the History of Liberty".
Why? Honestly? Because the first ten chapters sound like the dude sat down after dinner with a big hit of espresso coffee and wrote out his latest "abstractions"; it sounds like he was thinking of other mens' words and ideas but not naming their words or ideas, but blindly responding to them, as if he were an intellectual shadow boxer, so that we only end up with one half of the conversation. At least Aristotle has the good sense to name his fellow interlocutors!
So, back to the eponymous chapter. Just listen to some of these beauties!
"The man who enslaves another wakes in him awareness of himself and enlivens him to seek for liberty," hence the free nations decay into unawareness and lose their vigilance, and become enslaved again." What historical wisdom!
"Even in the darkest and crassest times liberty trembles in the lines of poets and affirms itself in the pages of thinkers and burns, solitary and magnificent, in some men who cannot be assimilated by the world around around them."
Finally, here is a summary quote:
"If anyone needs persuading that liberty cannot exist differently from the way it has lived and always will live in history, a perilous and fighting life, let him for a moment consider a world of liberty without obstacles, without menaces and without oppressions of any kind; immediately he will look away from this picture with horror as being something worse than death, an infinite boredom."
So much for part one!
In the remaining parts, I suggest you read part 3, "The need for historical knowledge where action is concerned"; part 4, "history and utopia"; part 5, "historicism and humanism". These are by and large the concluding chapters.
If you still like to read more, then you have grasped in my opinion already the lion's share of this magnificent but difficult book; the arguments relevant to the titles are in the sections before the summary chapters.
"Historical thought is born in an extremely complicated and delicate dialectical process out of the passion of practical life, transcending the latter and getting free of it in a pure judgment of truth."
I now suggest skipping forwards to the short chapter titled after the book title, "History as the History of Liberty".
Why? Honestly? Because the first ten chapters sound like the dude sat down after dinner with a big hit of espresso coffee and wrote out his latest "abstractions"; it sounds like he was thinking of other mens' words and ideas but not naming their words or ideas, but blindly responding to them, as if he were an intellectual shadow boxer, so that we only end up with one half of the conversation. At least Aristotle has the good sense to name his fellow interlocutors!
So, back to the eponymous chapter. Just listen to some of these beauties!
"The man who enslaves another wakes in him awareness of himself and enlivens him to seek for liberty," hence the free nations decay into unawareness and lose their vigilance, and become enslaved again." What historical wisdom!
"Even in the darkest and crassest times liberty trembles in the lines of poets and affirms itself in the pages of thinkers and burns, solitary and magnificent, in some men who cannot be assimilated by the world around around them."
Finally, here is a summary quote:
"If anyone needs persuading that liberty cannot exist differently from the way it has lived and always will live in history, a perilous and fighting life, let him for a moment consider a world of liberty without obstacles, without menaces and without oppressions of any kind; immediately he will look away from this picture with horror as being something worse than death, an infinite boredom."
So much for part one!
In the remaining parts, I suggest you read part 3, "The need for historical knowledge where action is concerned"; part 4, "history and utopia"; part 5, "historicism and humanism". These are by and large the concluding chapters.
If you still like to read more, then you have grasped in my opinion already the lion's share of this magnificent but difficult book; the arguments relevant to the titles are in the sections before the summary chapters.
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September 23, 2010HISTORY AS THE STORY OF LIBERTY by BENEDETTO CROCE (2000)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews