什么是思想史what is intellectual history.pdf

WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL HISTORY? A FRANKLY PARTISAN INTRODUCTION TO A FREQUENTLY MISUNDERSTOOD FIELD Peter E. Gordon Professor of History Harvard University Introduction Harvard University now boasts of a great number of accomplished historians whose interests and methods align them primarily—though not necessarily exclusively—with intellectual history. These include (in alphabetical order): David Armitage, Ann Blair, Peter Bol, Joyce Chaplin, Peter Gordon, James Hankins, James Kloppenberg, Emma Rothschild, and Judith Surkis. But just what is intellectual history? Intellectual history is an unusual discipline, eclectic in both method and subject matter and therefore resistant to any single, globalized definition. Practitioners of intellectual history tend to be acutely aware of their own methodological commitments; indeed, a concern with historical method is characteristic of the discipline. Because intellectual historians are likely to disagree about the most fundamental premises of what they do, any one definition of intellectual history is bound to provoke controversy. In this essay, I will offer a few introductory remarks about intellectual history, its origins and current directions. I have tried to be fair in describing the diversity of the field, but where judgment has seemed appropriate I have not held back from offering my own opinions. The essay is frankly partisan, in that it reflects my own preferences and my own conception of where intellectual history stands in relation to other methodologies. I hope it will be of some use for students at both the undergraduate and graduate level who are thinking about pursuing work in intellectual history. Intellectual History and the History of Ideas What is intellectual history? Broadl