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Europe is inseparable from its history. That history has been extensively studied in terms of its political history, its economic history, its religious history, its literary and cultural history, and so on. Could there be a distinctively philosophical history of Europe? Not a history of philosophy in Europe, but a history of Europe that focuses on what, in its history and identity, ties it to philosophy.
In the two volumes of Europe: A Philosophical History - The Promise of Modernity and Beyond Modernity - Simon Glendinning takes up this question, telling the story of Europe's history as a philosophical history.
In Part 1, The Promise of Modernity, Glendinning examines the conception of Europe that links it to ideas of rational Enlightenment and modernity. Tracking this self-understanding as it unfolds in the writings of Kant, Hegel and Marx, Glendinning explores the transition in Europe from a conception of its modernity that was philosophical and religious to one which was philosophical and scientific. While this transition profoundly altered Europe's own history, Glendinning shows how its self-confident core remained intact in this development. But not for long. This volume ends with an examination of the abrupt shattering of this confidence brought on by the first world-wide war of European origin - and the imminence of a second. The promise of modernity was in ruins. Nothing, for Europe, would ever be the same again.
Part 2: Beyond Modernity is available now from Routledge. ISBN 9781032015828
List of contents
Preface: What does it mean to be European? Introduction: Our Selective Memories of Europe Part 1: European Cultural Identity 1. Ideas of Culture 2. Greek, Christian and Beyond Part 2: Europe’s Modernity 3. From Barbarism to Civilization 4. The European Idea of Man 5. The Cosmopolitical Animal Part 3: The History of the World 6. Perpetual Peace 7. Attained Freedom 8. Real Happiness 9. Complete Democracy Part 4: A Sense of an Ending 10. Europe in Crisis 11. Dispiriting Europe 12. The Grand Tour: Looking Back and Looking Forward. Bibliography Index
About the author
Simon Glendinning is Professor of European Philosophy and Head of the European Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Summary
Europe is inseparable from its history. That history has been extensively studied in terms of its political history, its economic history, its religious history, its literary and cultural history, and so on. Could there be a distinctively philosophical history of Europe? Not a history of philosophy in Europe, but a history of Europe that focuses on what, in its history and identity, ties it to philosophy.
In the two volumes of Europe: A Philosophical History - The Promise of Modernity and Beyond Modernity - Simon Glendinning takes up this question, telling the story of Europe’s history as a philosophical history.
In Part 1, The Promise of Modernity, Glendinning examines the conception of Europe that links it to ideas of rational Enlightenment and modernity. Tracking this self-understanding as it unfolds in the writings of Kant, Hegel and Marx, Glendinning explores the transition in Europe from a conception of its modernity that was philosophical and religious to one which was philosophical and scientific. While this transition profoundly altered Europe’s own history, Glendinning shows how its self-confident core remained intact in this development. But not for long. This volume ends with an examination of the abrupt shattering of this confidence brought on by the first world-wide war of European origin – and the imminence of a second. The promise of modernity was in ruins. Nothing, for Europe, would ever be the same again.
Part 2: Beyond Modernity is available now from Routledge. ISBN 9781032015828
