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Author : Kim, Hyun-sik​​​​​​​

Page : 287-320

Abstract   

  Can the opposites unite? Is "the rapprochement between philosophy and history" possible? As for R.G. Collingwood and G.R. Elton, at first glance, this seems to be impossible. Most of all, while Collingwood suggested the historian's re-enactment of the past thoughts as the historical method, Elton argued that the historian cannot re-enact the past. Nevertheless, the similarities between them can be found, as in their ideas of history as the historian's imaginary reconstruction. Then why is imagination needed in historical studies? How does the historian's imaginary reconstruction proceed? And how can its truthfulness be proved? The main purpose of this article is, by studying Collingwood's answers to these questions, to speculate on history's peculiar relation to imagination. Moreover, by demonstrating that the historian's imaginary picture of the past can verify its objectivity, this article tries to bridge the gaps between historians and philosophers. The idea of history as imagination never destroy history. On the contrary, it strengthens the status of history as the scientific knowledge. This is because the process of imaginary reconstruction is actually the process of questioning and answering upon the meanings of evidence. When its validity is questioned, therefore, the historians can prove its rationality by narrating the very process of their questioning and answering. Their critics, in turn, can check its truthfulness by reconstructing it in their own mind. ​

<Key Words>

R.G Collingwood, G.R. Elton, Scissors-and-paste history, Scientific history, History and Imagination​