Abstract
This essay offers a set of reflections concerning relations between past and present and the necessity, propriety, and process of making value judgements about the past. Mobilizing a range of insights from figures as diverse as Blaise Pascal, Bernard Williams, and R. G. Collingwood, the discussion highlights some of the pitfalls and inconsistencies of the naïve celebration or condemnation of historical actors and their deeds, and underlines what is at stake when seeking to come to terms with an ambivalent inheritance from past generations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 537-542 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Patterns of Prejudice |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Early online date | 18 Aug 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 18 Aug 2021 |
Keywords
- Bernard Williams
- culture war
- ethics
- historicism
- historicity
- identity
- material bequests
- R. G. Collingwood
- relativism
- value judgement