Intellectual
Histories
Intellectual
Histories cover the evolving ideas of the past. These ideas are mostly written
by scholars or people holding more power. For example, famous philosophers,
national leaders, scientists, etc. So the intellectual histories we know of are
only a portion of the ideas that were there at the time. There are of course
many absent intellectual histories, parts of history not recorded, we will
never know about.
An
example of a documented intellectual history is the ideas of Aristotle. He
created theories on metaphysics, mathematics, biology, botany, ethics,
politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theater. In his lifetime, he wrote
over two hundred dissertations. He evolved Greece from the teachings of his
mentor, Plato, to his own theories.
Aristotle
was one man. However he was in a position of power during his time, thus he was
able to document his teachings. There may have been thousands of people who
opposed him, but those ideas were probably not as documented. When we look up
ideas of 320 BCE in Greece, we find the teachings of Aristotle, not the ideas
of his servant who could not read or write.
Learning
about intellectual histories makes me wonder what is being recorded currently
in the United States. With all this new technology, anyone with a facebook has
a chance of being documented in history. It has become much easier for all the
researchers and philosophies to be found by future generations. My thesis for
architecture theory may one day be found as an idea from this generation, but
probably not.
Below
is a possible evolution of ideas for the future. Our intellectual histories are
changing all the time.
Aristotle: True vs. Perverted Forms of Government. (2011). Retrieved
February 6, 2012, from The Moral Liberal:
http://www.themoralliberal.com/2011/12/06/aristotle-true-vs-perverted-forms-of-government/
Will Einstein's Theory of Relativity be Proved False? (2011, September).
Retrieved February 6, 2012, from IBN Live:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/would-einsteins-theory-of-relativity-be-proved-false/187145-11.html
I think the idea of intellectual histories is an interesting concept. Unfortunately, its a sad history to think that brilliant scholars who may have not had the means to publish their works may forever be lost. On the flip-side with communication being so fluid and many more options exist for your opinion to be heard today I think much of the intellect that happens today will not be lost.
ReplyDeleteWow, this was very interesting to read. In the first paragraph I liked how you mentioned absent intellecutal histories. I probably wouldn't have thought about the ones that weren't recorded intstead of only thinking of the ones that have been documented and discovered. Also, your third paragraph was very interesting and is now making me think about all the technology like facebook and so forth.
ReplyDeleteI liked your thought about what intellectual histories will be known about our present time. It is interesting to think about how increased accessibility to being able to document histories will play out in the future.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! In rhetoric, Aristotle is revered. We have entire courses devoted to the "Classics" - Aristotle, Plato, Cicero, etc. This class is taught by an older white male professor and the class was made up of all white males. I thought that was very interesting and your blog connected it to intellectual history for me. Very fascinating.
ReplyDeleteHere's APA format for citing websites:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from http://Web address