繁华都市里的百年孤独——评G.R.G.霍奇斯的《出租车:纽约市出租车司机社会史》

自1907年第一个使用计程表的出租车出现在纽约市街头以来,至今已整整100年。百年来,纽约市的出租车司机换了一批又一批,但出租车却永不停息地穿行在纽约的大街小巷,与纽约人的生活如影相随,俨然成为纽约和其他大城市生活中的恒定现象。但与出租车的无所不在相反,每日被禁锢在方向盘后的出租车司机却在纽约这个繁华的大都市中忍受着难以言状的孤独;他们的所思所想以及他们的历史也很少受人关注,成为纽约历史上被遗忘的社会群体。《出租车:纽约市出租车司机社会史》(TaxiASocialHistoryoftheNewYorkCityCabdrivers,TheJohnHopkinsUniversityPress,2007)的问世填补了这段空白。这部著作全方位地为我们展示了近百年来纽约市出租车司机及其社会群体的历史。全书分为7章,分别是:出租车司机的产生,1907—1920年;爵士乐时代的出租车,1920—1930年;大萧条时期寻求秩序,1930—1940年;战时繁荣,1940—1950年;规范出租车的形成,1950—1960年;城市化与其反对者,1960—1980年;承租者和无产者,1980—2000年。作者在纵向梳理出租车司机发展...     

Historical Archeology,Dialectical Marxism,and “C.F.U.G. Studies”

In studying capitalism in general, Marx declares it his chief aim “to lay bare its law of motion”; and his main way of proceeding is to begin with its present state, and then move backwards into the past by uncovering its necessary preconditions, especially within the mode of production (asking essentially—what had to have happened earlier for the present to appear and function as it does?). After which, he reverses himself, and, starting with where he arrived in the past, he re-examines the same conditions and events—using whatever evidence is available—as they evolved up to the present. Finally, with the help of the contradictory tendencies (often referred to as “laws”) that are brought into view by combining these two steps, Marx projects in broad outline where capitalism seems to be heading. Human beings, divided into social classes, come into this analysis—as both causes and effects—every step along the way. The present article examines what the discipline of archeology can contribute to this project.     

‘Dark cognition’: W.B. Yeats,J.G. Herder and the imperfection of tradition

In this article I connect Revivalist politics in nineteenth-century Ireland to Enlightenment epistemology by exploring how the ideal of the Irish – or Celtic – folk tradition is embroiled in the problematic of theoretical modernity. I dispute Seamus Deane's ideological characterisation of the Irish tradition, emerging from his encounters with the work of Edmund Burke and Matthew Arnold, and propose an alternative characterisation using Johann Gottfried Herder's theories of the Volk and the origin of language. I show how, at a crucial point in European history, the folk tradition modelled a view of cognition and modernity, which stood apart from analytic rationalism and based itself upon a positive evaluation of the obscurity of sensation. Finally, I read this literary-aesthetic model of what Herder called ‘dark’ cognition into Yeats's early folkloric works of the 1890s, especially The Celtic Twilight; and I make the argument that this often-neglected text does not represent a degeneration of folkloric integrity into Celtic mysticism but a comedic trait of folk modernity.     

Hidden footnotes: J.A. Smith,R.G. Collingwood and Croce’s conception of history

This article examines the role J.A. Smith played in introducing Croce’s conception of history into British philosophy. In particular, it examines his influence on R.G. Collingwood’s incorporation of the Italian idealist conception of history into his own philosophy. The contentions that Smith was a key popularizer of Italian idealist ideas into Britain and that he helped to shape Collingwood’s intellectual developed is not new. Yet these interrelated topics have not been explored in any great depth. Collingwood’s own reticence over his intellectual debt to Smith, a lack of interest in Smith and an unfamiliarity with his philosophy have all contributed to this neglect. This article seeks to redress this neglect through analysing how Smith nurtured Collingwood’s adoption of a Crocean conception of history. To achieve its aim, this article first analyses Smith’s own reception of Croce’s conception of history. From this, it presents a contextualist analysis of Collingwood’s development of a Crocean conception of history and the role Smith played in its adoption. Finally, this article examines why, despite Smith’s influence over his intellectual development, Collingwood failed to acknowledge the intellectual debt he owed to Smith.     

历史思想作为政治思想:J.G.A.波考克的政治思想史研究

通过分殊人们表达政治观点采用的不同语言模式,波考克尝试对政治思想提供一种真正历史的研究。他尤其关注由对历史的论述构成的语言模式,考察它和其他语言模式是如何连接与互动的。以在时间中存在的社会这一概念为媒介,波考克既强调任何表达社会自我理解的政治思想都包含一种涉及时间的含义结构,也表明意在叙述社会起源和延续性的历史思想内蕴强烈的政治属性。波考克的思想史研究由此致力于沟通政治思想和历史思想的关系,通过将后者重构为一种政治思想,有效地扩展了政治思想史的研究空间和书写模式。     

Sir Robert G. A. Jackson (1911–91): an Appreciation

Abstract

Although the celestial observations made by the Aborigines were precise, the significance attached to them was conceptual rather than perceptual. It could not be derived from observation but only from knowledge gained by initiation into tribal values. The legends which embodied the astronomical knowledge had a threefold pragmatic role in tribal culture: they functioned as a predictive calendar for terrestrial events; they were associated with stories which reinforced the moral values pertaining to tribal identity; and they contributed to the belief system which provided a philosophical rationale for a tribe’s understanding of the universe. Selected myths relating to the sun, moon, the Milky Way, the Magellanic Clouds, Venus, and various constellations are outlined and illustrated by traditional bark painting designs to provide examples of these general statements. Parallels are drawn with the theories of some contemporary philosophers of science.     

The Indo‐European mirror: Monotheism and polytheism (J.G. Herder,E. Renan,A. Pictet,F.M. Müller and R.F. Grau)

Some authors assigned the Indo‐Europeans a mirror‐like role which allowed them to understand their own position with respect to contemporary Christian values. After dealing briefly with the writings of J.G. Herder, I shall evoke a certain number of questions which oriented the research of E. Renan, F.M. Müller, A. Pictet and R.F. Grau. The works of the latter authors expounded fabulous genealogies, organizing them into explanatory systems that radically opposed Hebrew monotheists to Indo‐European polytheists. Thus, depending on whether they had used the Semites or the Indo‐Europeans as their starting‐point, they concluded that monotheism or polytheism, respectively, was the archaic source of human thought. The goal on their horizon was a ressuscitated West, forever in the forefront of progress, often simultaneously Christian and scientific. If this type of historiographic analysis is urgently needed at the present time, its purpose is not to provide a grid for distinguishing “truth”; from “falsehood,”; but rather to grasp a set of scholarly traditions within its own channels of transmission.     

The breakdown of the educational system of the G.D.R. in 1989—Problems of restructuring public education

The disappearance of an apparently well-established European state within one year—sudden, unexpected, and self-imposed—probably presents an event without parallels in European history. In educational history, too, there may be few examples of bringing together the structures of two very different educational systems after four decades of separate development.