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Philosophy of history is currently dominated by postmodernist anti-realists who claim that historiography can never provide true accounts of the past. The Poverty of Anti-realism exposes the faulty premises and reasoning behind such assertions and shows that anti-realism has political implications unforeseen and unwanted by its adherents.
List of contents
Introduction: Being Realist about History by Tor Egil Førland and Branko Mitrovi¿
Part I: Philosophical Contexts
Chapter 1: Idealism in Historical Theory 1970-2020 by Adam Timmins
Chapter 2: A Deceiving Resemblance: Realism Debates in Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Historiography by Veli Virmajoki
Part II: Critiques
Chapter 3: Historical Accuracy and Historians' Objectivity by Branko Mitrovi¿
Chapter 4: Historiography beyond Partisanship: Establishing Facts and Evaluating Theories by Tor Egil Førland
Chapter 5: Irrealism and Historical Theory: A User's Guide by Adam Timmins
Chapter 6: Saving Historical Reality (Even If We Construct It) by David Weberman
Part III: Political Implications
Chapter 7: Is Historical Antirealism (Ever) Politically Progressive? by Ian Verstegen
Chapter 8: Postmodern Frankenstein; or, the Alternative Facts Monster by Tor Egil Førland
Chapter 9: Arguments, Partisanship, and Politics: Is Anti-realism in the Philosophy of History a Right-Wing Ideology? by Branko Mitrovi¿
About the author
Edited by Tor Egil Førland and Branko Mitrovic¿ - Contributions by Adam Timmins; Ian Verstegan; Veli Virmajoki and David Weberman
Summary
Philosophy of history is currently dominated by postmodernist anti-realists who claim that historiography can never provide true accounts of the past. The Poverty of Anti-realism exposes the faulty premises and reasoning behind such assertions and shows that anti-realism has political implications unforeseen and unwanted by its adherents.
