Historical subject

Historical subject

Historical subject is in itself an oxymoron. If, in philosophy, a subject supposes a non-historical presence, an eternal substance, then how could the subject be historicized without keeping the ahistorical, essential core of this subject on which change occurs?

Nietzsche's critique of the subject is based in the rejection of an existing substance in favor of forces and wills combining to form combinations, sometimes in the form of a consciousness. Heidegger later traced the concept of subject to the metaphysical concept of "ousia" to demonstrate the impossibility of eliminating the subject by simply historicizing it. The modern definition of subjectivity, according to Heidegger, recovered Kant's definition of the substance in the "Critique of Pure Reason" and Aristotle's definition of "ousia" in "Metaphysics".

The term "historical subject" is also used by Michel Foucault, as a concept opposed to the eternal and transcendent subject of the juridical and philosophical discourse, yet still identified as an object. Foucault proposes a "historical and political discourse".

See also

*Subject (philosophy)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Subject (philosophy) — Not to be confused with the subiectum or hypokeimenon in Aristotelianism. In philosophy, a subject is a being that has subjective experiences, subjective consciousness or a relationship with another entity (or object ). A subject is an observer… …   Wikipedia

  • Historical Criticism — • The art of distinguishing the true from the false concerning facts of the past Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Historical Criticism     Historical Criticism      …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Historical ecology — is a research program that focuses on the intermingling of people and the environments in which they live. Rather than just looking at a quick snapshot, historical ecology involves studying and understanding this relationship in both time and… …   Wikipedia

  • Historical fiction — is a sub genre of fiction that often portrays alternate accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events. Stories in this genre, while fictional, make an honest attempt at capturing the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the… …   Wikipedia

  • Historical revision of the Inquisition — is a historiographical project that has emerged in recent years. In the last forty years, with opening of formerly closed archives, the development of new historical methodologies, and, in Spain, the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, new works… …   Wikipedia

  • Historical Vishnuism — as early worship of the deity Vishnu is one of the historical components, branches or origins of the contemporary and early Vaishnavism,cite book |author=Beck, Guy L. |title=Sonic theology: Hinduism and sacred sound |publisher=University of South …   Wikipedia

  • Historical classification — groups the various history topics into different categories according to subject matter as shown below.Meta history*Philosophy of historyBy geographic region*World *Africa *Americas *Asia *Europe *Oceania *AntarcticaBy geographic subregion*North… …   Wikipedia

  • Historical immigration to Great Britain — concerns the inward movement of people, cultural and ethnic groups into Great Britain before 1922, when the Irish Free State became independent. Immigration during and after 1922 is dealt with at the article Immigration to the United Kingdom… …   Wikipedia

  • historical — ► ADJECTIVE 1) of or concerning history. 2) belonging to or set in the past. 3) (of the study of a subject) based on an analysis of its development over a period. DERIVATIVES historically adverb …   English terms dictionary

  • Historical method — The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history. The question of the nature, and indeed the possibility, of sound historical method is… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”