The History of Philosophy as Philosophy: (6). Expanding contexts, seeking Historical themes

The ‘context’ for reading
early modern philosophy can be as narrow as the
text surrounding a passage (or the corpus containing a work),
and (in the limit) as broad as human history itself. Initial steps in expanding the context of early
modern philosophy came from taking seriously the
aims of philosophers as expressed in their works.
Such ‘internal’ contexts would have been sufficient (even if other evidence were not available) for
expanding the context of early
modern metaphysics and epistemology to include relations to mathematics, physics, and other
scientific areas such as biology, physiology,
or psychology. An internal context is also sufficient for
expanding consideration of early modern theories of mind to include theories of the senses, of
cognition more generally, and of the
passions and emotions. Further extension from within is in order.
Religion and theology are major presences in early modern philosophical
texts. Rather than seeing them as encumbrances to be overcome
(one common view), or as sources of arguments to be retrieved
by today’s believers (another trend), one might make the relations
among philosophy, religion, and theology an object of investigation
in its own right.

There is more to history of
philosophy than taking the contexts of individual
works or authors into account in reconstructing or explaining
their positions. Other units of investigation can be defined,
including ideas and themes. One sort of thematic investigation would follow key philosophical ideas or
subject areas over decades or centuries. These
might include basic philosophical notions,
such as conceptions of knowledge and its forms, technical notions,
such as ‘a priori’ and ‘a posteriori’ or ‘analysis’ and ‘synthesis’,
or general categories, such as ‘metaphysics’ or even ‘philosophy’.
Such basic work in ‘philosophical history of ideas’ is needed
to support contextual work in the history of philosophy. But it can be of interest in its own right,
in uncovering conceptual changes
and their philosophical significance. Louis Loeb’s examination of causation and substance in early
modern philosophy is a recent example of this sort
of thematic history.

Other work can attend to the
ways in which philosophers have
been read or ‘received’. To understand seventeenth-century Aristotelianism
and its opponents, an interpreter must distinguish the
local Aristotelianism from the historical Aristotle. The same goes for every major figure. Histories
of how the works of key figures were received,
initially and over the centuries, are of great interest.
Kant’s own presentation of his critical philosophy was altered
as he responded to its initial reception. His works have been constantly studied since their
appearance, with differing emphases. The
historical work of untangling these threads can provide distance from today’s locally received readings
of Kant, as well as presenting various
possibilities, live or not, for interpreting or adapting
his work.

Additional historical and
thematic connections should be sought across
the boundaries of traditional periods. The relation between early modern philosophy and
nineteenth-century philosophy might be taken
beyond obvious connections such as that between Kant and
German idealism, or between Locke and Hume and the two Mills.
By the early twentieth century, the gross structure of periods and themes used in presenting the
history of modern philosophy (into
the nineteenth century) had solidified. Looking back now from the early twenty-first century, we may
reconsider these received views
and ask how the story continues. The impact of Darwinism on
philosophy might be studied more fully. Links between the flourishing
American philosophy before 1930 and the philosophy and science of the preceding century
might be investigated. The development
of history of philosophy in America throughout the twentieth
century deserves further exploration.

In moving beyond contextual
readings of individual texts or authors,
the history of philosophy will develop historical accounts and
explanations of larger movements of ideas. As history of philosophy, these
accounts will focus on internal intellectual factors. As history of philosophy, they will, as
needed, relate these factors to wider
historical factors and trends.

Source : Sorell, Tom and
G. A. J. Rogers.(2005), Analytic Philosophy
and History of Philosophy (Oxford: Clarendon
Press).