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Due to the influence of postmodernism, historical anti-realism has
come to exercise a massive influence in contemporary philosophy of
history. Edited by Tor Egil Førland and Branko Mitrović, The
Povery of Anti-realism: Critical Perspectives on Postmodernist
Philosophy of History presents perspectives that oppose
anti-realist understanding of historians' work. The first part of
the book gives an overview of contemporary anti-realist philosophy
of history and shows that its claims are either so wide-ranging
that they apply to all scientific knowledge, or pertain only to a
select part of historians’ work. In the second part, the authors
criticize major anti-realist tenets. These include: the assertion
that the colligatory concepts historians use are without reference
in the past; the idea that historical facts are theory-dependent
and therefore unable to upend prevailing theories; Paul Roth’s
application of Nelson Goodman’s “irrealist” theory of
worldmaking to suggest a plurality of pasts; and the belief that
multiple describability prevents historians from providing true and
testable accounts of the past. The third and final part shows that
the political implications of anti-realism are often other than
left-leaning anti-realists think. Their reactions when confronted
with the consequences of their theories indicate the inconsistency
and untenability of postmodernist philosophy of history.
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