Three methods of political theory: Historicism, ahistoricism and transhistoricism

Frazer, M. (2010) Three methods of political theory: Historicism, ahistoricism and transhistoricism. In: Canadian Political Science Association 82nd Annual Conference, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1-3 Jun 2010,

Abstract

According to one now popular view, political theory should be bifurcated, divided into "the history of political thought" on the one hand and "contemporary political philosophy" on the other. The goal of the former enterprise is to understand authors' ideas in their unique historical context, without considering whether these ideas can be helpfully applied in any other context. The latter, in turn, is seen as a progressive, quasi–scientific and fundamentally ahistorical undertaking, one in which originality is highly valued and any reliance on the ideas of long–dead authors is suspect as an illegitimate appeal to authority. The goal of this paper is to elucidate and defend a third approach to political theory, one in which "translates" ideas first formulated in a past historical context so that they may be applied in our own. Transhistorical political theory in the sense I describe is not meant to displace either the history of political thought or ahistorical political philosophy, but to stand alongside them as a third intellectual enterprise drawing on the insights of both.

• Item Type: Conference Proceedings
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Frazer, Dr Michael
• Authors: Frazer, M.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics

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