Contrary to his usual portrayal as a disinterested aesthete, Swiss cultural historian Jacob Burckhardt is characterised as an original social and political thinker in Richard Sigurdson's timely book Jacob Burckhardt's Social and Political Thought. Burckhardt's thinking on a number of ideas - including the relationship between the individual and the mass, the tension between the ideals of equality and human excellence, and the role of the intellectual in the modern state - is the subject of insightful analysis, thus providing a rare investigation into Burckhardt's culture-critique of the nineteenth century. Other important aspects of Burckhardt's life that undoubtedly influenced both his historical and political thought, such as his ambiguous relationship with Friedrich Nietzsche, are carefully scrutinised in this groundbreaking analysis of the Swiss historian.
Known primarily as an historian, Burckhardt's historical writings provide not only a powerful critique of his own times, but also a broad ranging political philosophy that can be placed within the larger German tradition of evaluating politics according to the values and standards of art and culture. Although Burckhardt himself expressed his scepticism towards general theories and claimed to be devoid of a personal philosophical position, through an examination of his works Sigurdson argues that both implicit and explicit political reflections and theories are recognisable.
Authors
- Bibliography, etc. Note
- Includes bibliographical references and indexes
- Control Number Identifier
- CaOOCEL
- Dewey Decimal Classification Number
- 907/.2/02
- Dewey Decimal Edition Number
- 22
- General Note
- Issued as part of the desLibris books collection
- ISBN
- 9781442676367 0802047807
- LCCN
- D15.B8
- LCCN Item number
- S54 2004eb
- Modifying agency
- CaBNVSL
- Original cataloging agency
- CaOONL
- Physical Description | Extent
- 1 electronic text (xii, 279 p.)
- Published in
- Canada
- Publisher or Distributor Number
- CaOOCEL
- Rights
- Access restricted to authorized users and institutions
- System Control Number
- (CaBNVSL)thg00600674 (OCoLC)244768800 (CaOOCEL)418578
- System Details Note
- Mode of access: World Wide Web
- Transcribing agency
- CaOONL
Table of Contents
- Contents 8
- Preface 10
- Introduction: A New Dimension to Burckhardt? 16
- Part One: Burckhardt and the Birth of Cultural History 30
- 1 A Historian in Troubled Times 32
- 2 Cultural versus Political History: Burckhardt and Ranke 72
- 3 Burckhardt's Cultural History: Philosophy, Style, and Poetry 100
- Part Two: Burckhardt's Social and Political Thought 142
- 4 Elements: Scepticism, Organicism, and Human Nature 144
- 5 Themes: Freedom, the State, and Society 177
- 6 Burckhardt and Nietzsche: Two Critiques of Modernity 211
- Conclusion: An Astute Political Thinker 234
- Notes 240
- References 274
- Index of Names 284
- A 284
- B 284
- C 285
- D 285
- E 285
- F 285
- G 285
- H 286
- I 286
- J 286
- K 286
- L 286
- M 286
- N 287
- O 287
- P 287
- R 287
- S 288
- T 288
- W 288
- Y 288
- Z 288
- Index of Subjects 290
- A 290
- B 290
- C 290
- D 290
- E 290
- F 291
- G 291
- H 291
- I 291
- J 291
- K 291
- L 291
- M 291
- N 291
- P 291
- R 292
- S 292
- T 292
- U 292
- V 292
- W 292
- Z 292
