In Defense of Non-representationalism in Philosophy of History

Fulltext (.pdf)

 

Autor/ Author: Eugen Zeleňák  

In: Kultúrne dejiny

ISSN: 1338-2209 (Print)

ISSN: 2989–3313 (Online)

Ročník/ Volume: 16

Číslo/ Issue: 2

Strany/ Page Range: 268-279

Rok vydania/ Publication Year: 2025

Jazyk/ Language: Slovak

Vydavateľ/ Publisher: VERBUM – vydavateľstvo Katolíckej univerzity v Ružomberku

Abstrakt/ Abstract: For several decades, there has been a heated debate between realists and anti-realists in philosophy of history. Realists, on the one hand, insist that historians face pre-structured past reality and their goal is to represent it in their works. Antirealists, on the other hand, challenge various details of realism, they emphasize constructive role of historians in their work and they welcome plurality in history. In his recent text in this journal, Pavol Labuda criticizes anti-realism with a specific focus on its particular version of non-representationalism. Since his presentation of both the realism v. anti-realism controversy and of my views is misleading, in my text I offer a more plausible overview of the debate. Moreover, I present and illuminate the key points of non-representationalism in philosophy of history. Finally, I point out to several contentious views of Labuda presented in his text. More specifically, I argue that Labuda misrepresents the position he allegedly criticizes, since the most influential anti-realists do not doubt the existence of the past reality. In addition, I show that this misguided objection results from insufficient understanding of the epistemic core of non-representationalism. Finally, I question Labuda's understanding of concepts of representation and of social stability of past events.

Kľúčové slová/ Keywords: Philosophy of History, Past Events, Representation, Non-representationalism, Plurality, Pavol Labuda.

Citácia/ How to cite:

ZELEŇÁK, Eugen, 2025. Na obranu non-reprezentacionalizmu vo filozofii histórie. Kultúrne dejiny. Online. Roč. 16, č. 2, s. 268-279. ISSN 1338-2209 (Print). ISSN 2989–3313 (Online). Dostupné na:

Toto dielo je publikované pod/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.