historicism
Era shapes understanding
Historicism is the view that historical context determines meaning—that ideas, art, and institutions can only be understood within their particular time and place.
In philosophy of history, it holds that each era has its own spirit or logic that shapes events.
In architecture and design, historicism refers to the revival or imitation of past styles: The building's historicism drew on Gothic and Renaissance elements.
Critics use historicism pejoratively to suggest excessive deference to the past or denial of universal truths.
Study of interpretation methods
- philologyStudy of historical texts
- exegesisCritical textual interpretation
- periodizationDivision into distinct periods
- chronologyTemporal ordering of events
Movement toward improvement
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- directionalityHaving a specific heading
- inevitabilityQuality of being unavoidable
- stagesDistinct periods or platforms
dialectic · Hegel · Marx · determinism · providence · eschatology · unfolding · telos
Uncertain possible event
- contextualismBelief justification varies situationally
- particularismPrioritizing specific group interests
- constructivismActive knowledge-building theory
- pluralismCoexistence of differing views
anti-foundationalism · indeterminacy · standpoint · positionality · subjectivism · variability · provinciality
Falsificationist epistemologist from Vienna
- presentismBias toward current era
- anachronismHistorical time-placement error
- essentialismDoctrine of fixed natures
- universalismDoctrine of total reconciliation
naturalism · scientism · reductionism · determinism · fatalism · prediction · falsifiability · totalitarianism
German absolute idealist philosopher
- CollingwoodMelbourne inner suburb
- GadamerHermeneutics philosopher, twentieth-century German
- PopperFalsificationist epistemologist from Vienna
- NietzscheGerman philosopher of will
Return after decline
- neoclassicalReviving ancient aesthetic principles
- eclecticismCombining from multiple sources
- pasticheImitative artistic tribute
- VictorianOf a prim era
ornament · Beaux-Arts · façade · restoration · heritage · vernacular · decoration
hermeneutics
Study of interpretation methods
- philologyStudy of historical texts
- exegesisCritical textual interpretation
- periodizationDivision into distinct periods
progress
Movement toward improvement
- developmentProgress toward maturity
- directionalityHaving a specific heading
- inevitabilityQuality of being unavoidable
stages · dialectic · Hegel · Marx · determinism · providence · eschatology · unfolding · telos · metanarrative
contingency
Uncertain possible event
- contextualismBelief justification varies situationally
- particularismPrioritizing specific group interests
- constructivismActive knowledge-building theory
pluralism · anti-foundationalism · indeterminacy · standpoint · positionality · subjectivism · variability · provinciality
Popper
Falsificationist epistemologist from Vienna
- presentismBias toward current era
- anachronismHistorical time-placement error
- essentialismDoctrine of fixed natures
universalism · naturalism · scientism · reductionism · determinism · fatalism · prediction · falsifiability · totalitarianism · utopianism
Hegel
German absolute idealist philosopher
- CollingwoodMelbourne inner suburb
- GadamerHermeneutics philosopher, twentieth-century German
- PopperFalsificationist epistemologist from Vienna
Nietzsche · Foucault · idealism · objectivism · relativism
revival
Return after decline
- neoclassicalReviving ancient aesthetic principles
- eclecticismCombining from multiple sources
- pasticheImitative artistic tribute
Victorian · ornament · Beaux-Arts · façade · restoration · heritage · vernacular · decoration
historicismuniversalism
Doctrine of total reconciliation
essentialism · timeless truth · absolutism · Platonism · foundationalism
historicismformalism
Privileging structure over substance
New Criticism · decontextualization · structuralism · close reading · textualism
historicismindeterminism
Doctrine allowing genuine randomness
voluntarism · open society · presentism · futurism · free will
historicity, historicist, historicize, historicizing, historicized