Fergusons brilliant 90page introduction doubles as a manifesto on the methodology of counterfactual history. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Edited by niall ferguson new york, basic books, 1999 548 pp. Alternatives and counterfactuals, edited by niall ferguson. Alternatives and counterfactuals kindle edition by ferguson, niall.
He claims that in order to avoid such pitfalls, the essays in this book deal only with likely alternative possibilities. You can be consequently relieved to admittance it because it will give more chances and utility for well ahead life. Counterfactuals, causal independence and conceptual circularity. If it had been the case that p, then it would have been the case that q is true at a world w just in case q is true at all the possible pworlds closest to w. History and theory is the premier international journal in the field of theory and philosophy of history. Counterfactual history, also sometimes referred to as virtual history, is a form of historiography that attempts to answer what if questions known as counterfactuals. Tetlock and parker, for example, assert the impossibility of avoiding counterfactual history if we hope to go beyond bare description of what happened to explanations of why certain things rather than others happened. This volume explores the conceptual terrain defined by the greek word eikos. Virtual history isnt terribleand ferguson is only partwriter, editing together other counterfactual historians to create plausible alternate historiesbut he falls prey to the transport a i havent even rated some of his lesser works as they were just that boring. Fergusons ninetypage introduction is a brilliant manifestolike defense of the methodology of counterfactual history and offers a convincing justifica tion of the whole enterprise. Niall ferguson, author of the highly acclaimed the pity of war, leads the charge in this historically rigorous series of separate voyages into imaginary time and provides farreaching answers to these intriguing questions. If the inline pdf is not rendering correctly, you can download the pdf file here. Learning webbased virtual reality build and deploy webbased virtual reality.
When the german challenge came therefore, it found angloamerica unready. Alternatives and counterfactuals, or a similar 2004. Alternatives, counterfactuals, and the bible, biblical interpretation on deepdyve, the largest online rental service for scholarly research with thousands of academic publications available at your fingertips. Counterfactual history is misguided and outdated, as the first world war debate shows richard j evans thu mar 2014 06.
African studies american studies ancient near east and egypt art history asian studies book history and cartography biblical studies classical. Alternatives, counterfactuals, and the bible in biblical. Alternatives and counterfactuals by niall ferguson. These include the pity of war on wwi, the war of the world about the major conflicts in the 20th century including a stunning chapter on the armed slave labor camp that was the soviet union, and this book virtual history on counterfactual or what if history. Alternatives and counterfactuals or any other file from books category. Counterfactuals university of california, berkeley. Defendants of virtual history normally claim that considering alternative. Alternatives and counterfactuals and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. What if there had been no american war of independence.
Here he deals with how the second world war could have come about. Alternatives and counterfactuals, or a similar 2004 effort by andrew roberts, what might have. Instead, it suggests and explores the possibility of other develop ments. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading virtual history. Alternatives and co unterfactuals, basic boo ks, new york, 1999, pp. Furthermore, like the essays in this volume, counterfactual stud ies display an explicit. I like counterfactual history and enjoyed the massive collection what if. Hamburg business and german politics in the era of inflation 18971927 1993, virtual history. Alternatives and counterfactuals 1997, a collection of essays. For over three decades now, it has analysed trends, recorded changes, even roadmapped the future. Alternatives and counterfactuals niall ferguson these include the pity of war on wwi, the war of the world about the major conflicts in the 20th century including a stunning chapter on the armed slave labor camp that was the soviet union, and this book virtual history on counterfactual or what if history. Michael oakeshott described counterfactual reasoning as a monstrous incursion of science into the world of history quoted in ferguson, 1999. It is, at the very root, the idea of conjecturing on what did not happen, or what might have happened, in order to understand what. Virtual history features contributions from talented, imaginative and wellregarded historians, led by niall ferguson.
Why historians and everyone else should care about. Jan 01, 1997 virtual history isnt terrible and ferguson is only partwriter, editing together other counterfactual historians to create plausible alternate historiesbut he falls prey to the transport a i havent even rated some of his lesser works as they were just that boring. The pretentiousness is by getting rtf virtual history alternatives and counterfactuals as one of the reading material. Possibility and understanding in history and the social sciences 1991by the cambridge sociologist geoffrey hawthorn, the counterfactual history was carefully introduced into the academia. Probabilities, hypotheticals, and counterfactuals in ancient. Counterfactuals, causal independence and conceptual. Possibility and understanding in history and the social sciences cambridge, 1991. For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing. President gore and other things that never happened. Alternatives and counteractuals edited by niall ferguson basic b books a member of the perseus books group virtual history w a s f i r s t p u b l i s h e d i n h a r d c o v e r in g r e a t b r i t a i n b y p i c a d o r in 1 9 9 7. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read.
The term counterfactual conditional was coined by nelson goodman in 1947, extending roderick chisholms 1946 notion of a contrarytofact conditional. Towards a chaotic theory of the past, in virtual history. Alternatives and counterfactuals by ferguson, niall isbn. More recently, eric foner is reported to have found.
Alternatives and counterfactuals 1997, the pity of war. The role of using counterfactuals when searching for explanations has not received much attention in this literature. Charting change from the cutting edge of knowledge, pursuing the frontiers of research to everwidening horizons, the social scientist has built a reputation of being an outstanding journal in social sciences and humanities. Niall ferguson has written several fine books that are mustreads for educated people. Ferguson begins his introductory essay to this thoughtprovoking volume with the phrase, what if. The counterfactual and the factual notes on liberty. Second, w 1 comes out closer to w 0 than w 3 does, by the priority of 1 over 2. What are we to make of books such as niall fergusons pioneering 1997 collection, virtual history. Jan 23, 2020 while seemingly counterproductive to good history, the use of counterfactualism does engage the imaginationin fact this is many historians reasoning for keeping counterfactualism alive in scholarly studybut the real reasoning behind continuing its presence in argument and discussion is because counterfactuals appeal to laws, rationality.
May 05, 2011 a good book, but more academic than expected. Historians often appear skeptical of counterfactual arguments. For every individual, u, there is a function that specifies the state of u s infection under two hypothetical conditions. One history is as good as another and with it the blurring of factual, counterfactual and fiction. The history of the house of rothschild 1998, the cash nexus. Carr argued that a historian should never deal in speculation about what did not happen carr, 1961, 127. The implications of virtual history deserve to be meditated by every historian.
Dick used an alternative world, in which the axis powers won the second world war and divided the usa between germany and japan, in order to explore the nature of human decency associated with the american ophile japanese occupation in san francisco and fanatic totalitarianism associ ated. The counterfactual conditional is the basis of experimental methods for establishing causality in the natural and social sciences, e. Alternatives and counterfactuals paperback 5 may 2011 by niall ferguson author visit amazons niall ferguson page. Towards a chaot ic theory of the past in niall fer guson ed. Alternatives and counterfactuals segal, eyal 20011201 00. For useful studies on the utility and limitations of counterfactual analysis, see e. Alternatives and counterfactuals, or a similar 2004 effort by andrew roberts, what might have been.
Counterfactuals and explanation boris kment on the received view, counterfactuals are analyzed using the concept of closeness between possible worlds. Alternatives and counterfactuals niall ferguson these include the pity of war on wwi, the war of the world about the major conflicts in the 20th century including a stunning chapter on the armed slave labor camp that was the soviet union, and this book. In literature, the genre of alternative history has been used for a wide spectrum of purposes. A term of art in greek rhetoric, a defining feature of literary fiction, a seminal mode of historical, scientific, and philosophical inquiry, eikos was a way of thinking about the probable and improbable, the factual and counterfactual, the hypothetical and the real. Responding to this problem, historians seek to demonstrate the power of the. How to acquire started following virtual history alternatives and counterfactuals file online. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them.
Alternatives and counterfactuals in pdf or epub format and read it directly on your mobile phone, computer or any device. The counterfactual imagination in history and fiction. A counterfactual conditional abbreviated cf, is a conditional with a false ifclause. The remainder deals with european subjects if israel is in europe for virtual history as well as the european cup and the eurovision song contest and 12 are about the uk. In this extract ferguson takes these different essays and weaves them into a counterfactual narrative history. It is, at the very root, the idea of conjecturing on what did not happen, or what might have happened, in order to understand what did happen. Probabilities, hypotheticals, and counterfactuals in. This kind of counterfactual history should prove interesting not only to historians but also to literary theorists, especially those.
63 1399 222 1562 916 1211 119 937 369 1337 1131 1533 88 1594 988 1174 319 346 1208 929 1001 142 818 1232 33 1393 314 273 1145 1591 1261 1360 501 724 283 1062 567 198 22 1107 245