Description
Excerpt from Anatomy of the Future
It is not without significance that an increasing number of historians, whose province has always been the past, are con cerning themselves with the future. However diverse their in dividual formulations and conclusions, they share a common if tacit belief that history is susceptible, in part or in whole, of some measure of extrapolation. That is to say, history is conceived in terms of a process, unilinear or cyclical, exhibiting a discernible pattern of trends or tendencies whose trajectory into the future is vouchsafed by their established and meaningful occurrence in the past. Predictability, however, is the hallmark of a science based on immutable laws. In claiming a like prerogative without a comparable scaffolding of historic laws and principles in the enigmatic field of human affairs, historians may well seem, in contrast to scientists, like vagabonds skating on thin ice. But if history has not yet attained the Status of a science, historians may perhaps retort, with some Show of plausibility, that the art which enables them to comprehend the past entitles them to speculate upon the future. Even in the cold and rigorous domain of science, intuition has been known to precede knowledge.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
It is not without significance that an increasing number of historians, whose province has always been the past, are con cerning themselves with the future. However diverse their in dividual formulations and conclusions, they share a common if tacit belief that history is susceptible, in part or in whole, of some measure of extrapolation. That is to say, history is conceived in terms of a process, unilinear or cyclical, exhibiting a discernible pattern of trends or tendencies whose trajectory into the future is vouchsafed by their established and meaningful occurrence in the past. Predictability, however, is the hallmark of a science based on immutable laws. In claiming a like prerogative without a comparable scaffolding of historic laws and principles in the enigmatic field of human affairs, historians may well seem, in contrast to scientists, like vagabonds skating on thin ice. But if history has not yet attained the Status of a science, historians may perhaps retort, with some Show of plausibility, that the art which enables them to comprehend the past entitles them to speculate upon the future. Even in the cold and rigorous domain of science, intuition has been known to precede knowledge.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Details
Publisher - Forgotten Books
Language - English
Hardback
Contributors
Author
Roderick Seidenberg
Published Date -
ISBN - 9780331626261
Dimensions - 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.0 cm
Page Count - 185
Paperback
Contributors
Author
Roderick Seidenberg
Published Date -
ISBN - 9780282532000
Dimensions - 22.9 x 15.2 x 1.0 cm
Page Count - 187
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