Georg Gangl
@ggangl.bsky.social
Philosopher of historiography @centrephilohistory.bsky.social. Likes narrative, evidence and evidence-based narrative. Versucht, "auch einmal auf dem Kopfe zu gehen" (Hegel).
https://philpeople.org/profiles/georg-gangl
https://philpeople.org/profiles/georg-gangl
Recently, I reread Adorno’s “Spengler after the Demise”, published in English as “Spengler Today”, and Neurath’s “Anti-Spengler”. I intended to compare their critiques of Spengler, but in this post, I will only talk about Adorno’s critique. (I’ll focus on Neurath in a follow-up post.) (1/28)
November 13, 2025 at 8:21 AM
Recently, I reread Adorno’s “Spengler after the Demise”, published in English as “Spengler Today”, and Neurath’s “Anti-Spengler”. I intended to compare their critiques of Spengler, but in this post, I will only talk about Adorno’s critique. (I’ll focus on Neurath in a follow-up post.) (1/28)
I am going to reread these two texts, Adorno’s “Spengler after the Demise” and Neurath’s “Anti-Spengler”. When I first read them, 20 years ago, I was much under the sway of Critical Theory and I sided with Adorno against both Neurath and Spengler. Let’s see where I will end up this time around.
November 5, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I am going to reread these two texts, Adorno’s “Spengler after the Demise” and Neurath’s “Anti-Spengler”. When I first read them, 20 years ago, I was much under the sway of Critical Theory and I sided with Adorno against both Neurath and Spengler. Let’s see where I will end up this time around.
which is riddled with armed conflicts and wars.
The victims of Oradour on the other were declared martyrs who died for France and who should be remembered, but beyond that no more universal message was derived from their deaths. (Anybody who has ever been to France knows the phrase...(6/12)
The victims of Oradour on the other were declared martyrs who died for France and who should be remembered, but beyond that no more universal message was derived from their deaths. (Anybody who has ever been to France knows the phrase...(6/12)
October 2, 2025 at 7:30 AM
which is riddled with armed conflicts and wars.
The victims of Oradour on the other were declared martyrs who died for France and who should be remembered, but beyond that no more universal message was derived from their deaths. (Anybody who has ever been to France knows the phrase...(6/12)
The victims of Oradour on the other were declared martyrs who died for France and who should be remembered, but beyond that no more universal message was derived from their deaths. (Anybody who has ever been to France knows the phrase...(6/12)
the message in Guernica is cosmopolitan while Oradour derives a national meaning from the atrocity. The exposition on the bombing in Guernica is prefaced by a room on the value of peace as a lesson to be learned from the bombing, and it makes reference to the sorry state of today’s world...(5/12)
October 2, 2025 at 7:30 AM
the message in Guernica is cosmopolitan while Oradour derives a national meaning from the atrocity. The exposition on the bombing in Guernica is prefaced by a room on the value of peace as a lesson to be learned from the bombing, and it makes reference to the sorry state of today’s world...(5/12)
in southwestern France the Nazis committed in 1944 a massacre of the townsfolk—with around 700 killed, the majority woman and children—,in retaliation for attacks of the Résistance. They also razed the whole town to the ground. The original town was never rebuilt, and it can be visited...(2/12)
October 2, 2025 at 7:30 AM
in southwestern France the Nazis committed in 1944 a massacre of the townsfolk—with around 700 killed, the majority woman and children—,in retaliation for attacks of the Résistance. They also razed the whole town to the ground. The original town was never rebuilt, and it can be visited...(2/12)
This summer, I travelled to two places that brought the question of the meaning of history to the fore: Oradour-sur-Glane and Guernica. Both towns were the place of war crimes, and at least Guernica is etched into modern consciousness thanks to Picasso’s painting on the topic.
In Oradour...(1/12)
In Oradour...(1/12)
October 2, 2025 at 7:30 AM
This summer, I travelled to two places that brought the question of the meaning of history to the fore: Oradour-sur-Glane and Guernica. Both towns were the place of war crimes, and at least Guernica is etched into modern consciousness thanks to Picasso’s painting on the topic.
In Oradour...(1/12)
In Oradour...(1/12)
In the received view, Anglophone philosophy of history begins with Hempel’s famous paper from 1942. However, already 4 years before that, in 1938, a book came out that had substantial things to say about history and historiography, and that from a non-Hempelian standpoint: John Dewey’s...(1/23)
June 2, 2025 at 10:19 AM
In the received view, Anglophone philosophy of history begins with Hempel’s famous paper from 1942. However, already 4 years before that, in 1938, a book came out that had substantial things to say about history and historiography, and that from a non-Hempelian standpoint: John Dewey’s...(1/23)
The work of Leon J. Goldstein is currently not much in vogue in the philosophy of history. While he and his (rather unorthodox) antirealism are sometimes mentioned in the ongoing discussion on realism, his distinct (metaphilosophical) approach to the philosophy of history is hardly discussed. (1/23)
May 19, 2025 at 11:55 AM
The work of Leon J. Goldstein is currently not much in vogue in the philosophy of history. While he and his (rather unorthodox) antirealism are sometimes mentioned in the ongoing discussion on realism, his distinct (metaphilosophical) approach to the philosophy of history is hardly discussed. (1/23)
Today in a week (13.05), I will speak at University of Galway to PhD-students in history and philosophy on "The Essential Tension: Historiography between Past, Present, and Future". I am very much looking forward to this opportunity to share my thoughts. Also, I have never been to Ireland before.
May 6, 2025 at 6:38 AM
Today in a week (13.05), I will speak at University of Galway to PhD-students in history and philosophy on "The Essential Tension: Historiography between Past, Present, and Future". I am very much looking forward to this opportunity to share my thoughts. Also, I have never been to Ireland before.
Very much looking forward to the workshop "Pragmatist Philosophy of History" coming Monday that we organize with Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen in Ostrava. See here for the full programme: philevents.org/event/show/1....
April 11, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Very much looking forward to the workshop "Pragmatist Philosophy of History" coming Monday that we organize with Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen in Ostrava. See here for the full programme: philevents.org/event/show/1....
Very much looking forward to teaching at the University of Ružomberok today!
March 31, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Very much looking forward to teaching at the University of Ružomberok today!
The Centre for Philosophical Studies turns 10 and today in a week (18.12) we'll have a birthday bash! There will be sessions on the past, present, and future of the Centre and the philosophy of history, and there will also be cake, mirth, and a lot of reminiscing. All welcome and more info below!
December 11, 2024 at 1:20 PM
The Centre for Philosophical Studies turns 10 and today in a week (18.12) we'll have a birthday bash! There will be sessions on the past, present, and future of the Centre and the philosophy of history, and there will also be cake, mirth, and a lot of reminiscing. All welcome and more info below!
on here on Hackett Fischer’s book in more detail. It’s in many respects a remarkable and very erudite book and also fun to read, but I think on a fundamental level it is also misguided. Many of the fallacies that Hackett Fischer discusses are actually good historiograpic practice if judged...(2/4)
November 25, 2024 at 12:06 PM
on here on Hackett Fischer’s book in more detail. It’s in many respects a remarkable and very erudite book and also fun to read, but I think on a fundamental level it is also misguided. Many of the fallacies that Hackett Fischer discusses are actually good historiograpic practice if judged...(2/4)
On December 5, I will give the talk "Historiographic Fallacies" in Ostrava. It won't be online, but I paste the abstract here below. I recently read David Hackett Fischer's classic "Historians' Fallacies" from 1970, so I decided to talk about this topic. When I have more time, I'll write...(1/4)
November 25, 2024 at 12:04 PM
On December 5, I will give the talk "Historiographic Fallacies" in Ostrava. It won't be online, but I paste the abstract here below. I recently read David Hackett Fischer's classic "Historians' Fallacies" from 1970, so I decided to talk about this topic. When I have more time, I'll write...(1/4)
Today in a week (28.11, 16h), Verónica Tozzi Thompson will give the talk "Trust, Testimony, and the Epistemic Value of Historical Narrative" with the Centre for Philosophical Studies of History over Zoom. For the abstract and the Zoom-link, please see: oulu.fi/en/events/tr....
All welcome!
All welcome!
November 21, 2024 at 7:56 AM
Today in a week (28.11, 16h), Verónica Tozzi Thompson will give the talk "Trust, Testimony, and the Epistemic Value of Historical Narrative" with the Centre for Philosophical Studies of History over Zoom. For the abstract and the Zoom-link, please see: oulu.fi/en/events/tr....
All welcome!
All welcome!
There is now also a poster for the workshop/PhD-couse on "Insight and Hindsight: Historical Perspective Between Past and Present" (Dec 16-17) in which I will teach. On more information on the course and how how to attend online or in-person, please see: oulu.fi/en/events/in....
November 4, 2024 at 12:11 PM
There is now also a poster for the workshop/PhD-couse on "Insight and Hindsight: Historical Perspective Between Past and Present" (Dec 16-17) in which I will teach. On more information on the course and how how to attend online or in-person, please see: oulu.fi/en/events/in....
But first a bit of context: Elton’s book from 1967 was written as a direct rejoinder to E.H. Carr’s “What Is History?” (1961), which Elton deemed too subjectivist and relativistic. His express goal was to return historiography “to the assurance of the nineteenth century”. (2/20)
November 1, 2024 at 9:20 AM
But first a bit of context: Elton’s book from 1967 was written as a direct rejoinder to E.H. Carr’s “What Is History?” (1961), which Elton deemed too subjectivist and relativistic. His express goal was to return historiography “to the assurance of the nineteenth century”. (2/20)
In his “The Practice of History”, Geoffrey Elton makes the unusual argument that historiography is more objective than the experimental natural sciences. Let’s see what he meant by this and how his argument holds up from the standpoint of modern philosophy of history. (1/20)
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November 1, 2024 at 9:20 AM
In his “The Practice of History”, Geoffrey Elton makes the unusual argument that historiography is more objective than the experimental natural sciences. Let’s see what he meant by this and how his argument holds up from the standpoint of modern philosophy of history. (1/20)
🗃️🧠
🗃️🧠
Recently, I got into reading Herbert Butterfield due to some interest in the moral judgments of historians, and he’s a fascinating, complex, and sometimes contradictory figure. As is probably well known, B. popularized the term Whiggism with his 1931 book “The Whig...(1/16)
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October 21, 2024 at 7:59 AM
Recently, I got into reading Herbert Butterfield due to some interest in the moral judgments of historians, and he’s a fascinating, complex, and sometimes contradictory figure. As is probably well known, B. popularized the term Whiggism with his 1931 book “The Whig...(1/16)
🗃️🧠
🗃️🧠
I have a great admiration for Arthur Danto as a philosopher of history. So, I was really stoked to come across his peculiarly titled text “Hayden White and Me: Two Systems of Philosophy of History” from 2013, the year of Danto’s death. In the text, Danto goes through the...(1/20)
🗃️🧠
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October 8, 2024 at 7:33 AM
I have a great admiration for Arthur Danto as a philosopher of history. So, I was really stoked to come across his peculiarly titled text “Hayden White and Me: Two Systems of Philosophy of History” from 2013, the year of Danto’s death. In the text, Danto goes through the...(1/20)
🗃️🧠
🗃️🧠
In 1973, Georg Iggers published a collection of Leopold Ranke’s theoretical writings under the title “The Theory and Practice of History”. Next to Ranke’s better-known prefaces that are regularly mined for quotations, the collection also contains the theoretical...(1/26)
September 29, 2024 at 9:19 AM
In 1973, Georg Iggers published a collection of Leopold Ranke’s theoretical writings under the title “The Theory and Practice of History”. Next to Ranke’s better-known prefaces that are regularly mined for quotations, the collection also contains the theoretical...(1/26)