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HISTORICAL MEANINGFULNESS IN SHARED ACTION
Article first published online: 22 JAN 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2303.2009.00482.x
© 2009 Wesleyan University
Additional Information
How to Cite
SMITH, S. G. (2009), HISTORICAL MEANINGFULNESS IN SHARED ACTION. History and Theory, 48: 1–19. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2303.2009.00482.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 22 JAN 2009
- Article first published online: 22 JAN 2009
Keywords:
- Historical sense;
- historical interest;
- meaningfulness;
- action;
- action-sharing;
- Ranke;
- Oakeshott;
- Rüsen;
- Sartre;
- Rickert
ABSTRACT
Why should past occurrences matter to us as such? Are they in fact meaningful in a specifically historical way, or do they only become meaningful in being connected to other sorts of meaning—political or speculative, for example—as many notable theorists imply? Ranke and Oakeshott affirmed a purely historical meaningfulness but left its nature unclear. The purpose of this essay is to confirm historical meaningfulness by arguing that our commanding practical interest in how we share action with other actors is distinctively engaged by presumed information about past occurrences. We recognize that past occurrences have determined the conditions of action sharing, constraining our practice with regard to which actors we share practical reality with and which compounding actions we may or must join in progress.