Articles liés à The Logic of Historical Explanation

The Logic of Historical Explanation - Couverture souple

Roberts, Clayton

 
9780271014432: The Logic of Historical Explanation
Couverture souple
ISBN 10 : 0271014431 ISBN 13 : 9780271014432
Editeur : Penn State University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Ever since 1942, when Carl Hempel declared that historical events are explained by subsuming them under laws governing the occurrence of similar events, philosophers have debated the validity of explanations based on "covering laws." In The Logic of Historical Explanation, Clayton Roberts provides a key to understanding the role of covering laws in historical explanation. He does so by distinguishing between their use at the macro- and micro- levels, a distinction that no other scholar has made.

Roberts contends that the positivists were right to believe that covering laws are indispensable in historical explanations but wrong to think that these laws apply to macro-events (such as wars and revolutions). Similarly, the humanists were right to declare that historians do not explain the occurrence of macro-events by subsuming them under covering laws but wrong to deny the role of covering laws in tracing the course of events leading to the macro-event. Roberts resolves this debate by showing that, though useless in explaining macro-events, covering laws are indispensable in connecting the steps in an explanatory narrative. He then sets forth the logic of an explanatory narrative, explores the nature of rational explanation, and distinguishes the logic of historical interpretation from the logic of historical explanation.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de l'auteur

Clayton Roberts is Professor Emeritus of History at The Ohio State University. His previous books include The Growth of Responsible Government in Stuart England (2008).

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Penn State University Press
Date d'édition
1996
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
0271014431
ISBN 13 
9780271014432
Reliure
Broché
Nombre de pages
336
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
gpsr@libri.de
gpsr@libri.de

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