Re: [xmca] Romantic Science and Family Trees

[mike cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>]

Certainly sounds like a similar kind of distinction or "nest of
distinctions," Larry. By my amateur historical reckoning, Mill is one of
the influential
19th century thinkers who can be counted as a precursor of the
scientific/explanatory, cultural/historical distinction that also seems at
least relevant, if not central, to the various "crises" in psychology.

Important point that it is not English vs Continent (only) but internal
to the English (and, I believe, the continent of Europe as well, if we
want to include Russia, or at least St. Petersburg and Moscow, in Europe
mike

On Sat, Nov 10, 2012 at 7:02 AM, Larry Purss <lpscholar2@gmail.com> wrote:

> Mike,
> I want to share a passage from Simon Critchley's short book introducing
> Continental Philosophy. In this passage I heard intuitions of your
> exploration of *romantic science*
>
> "I have made two historical claims for Continental Philosophy. It is a
> professional self-description and it is a cultural feature. As a
> self-description, Continental philosophy is a necessary - but perhaps
> transitory - evil of the professionalization of the discipline. As a
> cultural feature, Continental philosophy goes back at least to the time of
> Mill, and what can be learned from his views is that the division between
> philosophical traditions is the expression of a conflict (and moreover a
> sectarian conflict) that is internal to 'Englishness' and not a
> geographical opposition between the English-speaking world and the
> Continent. As such, the gulf between analytic and Continental Philosophy is
> the expression of a deep cultural divide between differing and opposed
> habits of thought - let's call them Benthamite and Coleridgean, or
> empirical-scientific and hermeneutic-romantic. Mill's deeper point is that
> the philosophical and cultural truth of matters, whatever that might be, is
> not to be found by choosing sides,and therby mistaking a part for the
> whole. Rather, in Hegel's words, the truth is the whole, and the whole has
> to be understood in its systematic movement and historical development.
> This book is hopefully a contribution to such understanding."
> [Simon Critchley  Continental Philosophy, A Very Short Introduction]
> {this book is under $10 on Kindle and is an easy introduction to this
> fascinating topic}
> Larry
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