History as a Science

Jan van der Dussen, Ph.D. (1980), University of Leiden, is Professor Emeritus at The Open University of The Netherlands. Besides some books in Dutch, he published History as a Science, and with W.H. Dray, R.G. Collingwood: The Principles of History and Other Writings in Philosophy of History (Oxford, 1999), while he edited the revised edition of Collingwood’s The Idea of History (Oxford, 1993).

"It is no longer true to say that history as a science has been neglected, and this is due largely to Dussen. History as a Science is a mighty work [...].", Christopher Fear Old Problems Re-opened. R. G. Collingwood and the History of Ideas, p. 66."Dussen puts his case powerfully, and what he shows rather brilliantly is that what Collingwood says about history fits with what he says about mind; and that critics cannot complete their attacks on Collingwood’s philosophy of history without taking that philosophy of mind into account." Christopher Fear Old Problems Re-opened. R. G. Collingwood and the History of Ideas, p. 129.

• PrefaceAcknowledgements (1980)Abbreviations1 Introduction1.1 Collingwood’s Reception1.2 Collingwood’s Development1.3 Design of the Book2 The Development of Collingwood’s Thought on History2.1 From Religion and Philosophy to Speculum Mentis2.2 Collingwood and Realism2.3 History: From Realism to Idealism2.4 History and Science2.5 History as Process3 The Idea of History and Its Discussion3.1 The Philosophy of History in Collingwood’s Later Years3.2 The Idea of History3.3 The Discussion of The Idea of History4 Collingwood’s Unpublished Manuscripts4.1 Introduction4.2 History and Realism: the Writings before 19264.3 ‘Preliminary Discussion’ (1927)4.4 Lectures on the Philosophy of History (1926)4.5 Outlines of a Philosophy of History (1928)4.6 Collingwood’s Development4.7 Lectures on the Philosophy of History: 1929–19324.8 ‘Reality as History’ (1935)4.9 Notes on the History of Historiography and Philosophy of History (1936)4.10 Notes on Historiography (1938–1939)4.11 Folklore (1936–1937)4.12 Metaphysics and Cosmology (1933–1934)5 Collingwood as an Archaeologist and Historian5.1 Introduction5.2 Archaeology5.3 Hadrian’s Wall5.4 History of Roman Britain6 The Historical Object6.1 Action6.2 Collingwood’s Philosophy of Mind6.3 Historical Process7 Historical Method7.1 History as a Science7.2 Evidence7.3 Question and Answer7.4 Intuition8 Some Controversial Issues8.1 Past and Present8.2 History as the Re-enactment of Past Thought8.3 Corporate Mind8.4 ‘Unconscious’ Action8.5 Causality and Objective Conditions8.6 General Knowledge8.7 Explanation and Understanding8.8 Historical Objectivity9 History and Other Sciences9.1 History and Natural Science9.2 History and the Social Sciences10 History and Practice10.1 Introduction10.2 Psychology10.3 The Use of HistoryAppendix 1: Lectures Given by R.G. CollingwoodAppendix 2: Reports by R.G. Collingwood to the Faculty of Literae HumanioresAppendix 3: Letters from R.G. CollingwoodBibliography 1: List of Manuscripts of R.G. CollingwoodBibliography 2: Works by R.G. CollingwoodBibliography 3: Reviews of Works by R.G. CollingwoodBibliography 4: Works by Others