Art, metaphysics and dialectic : R.G. Collingwood and the crisis of Western civilisation
This thesis argues that Collingwood's philosophy is best understood as a diagnosis of and response to a crisis of Western civilisation. The various and complementary aspects of the crisis of civilisation are explored and Collingwood is demonstrated to be working in the traditions of Romanticism and 'historicism'. In Part One, I examine Collingwood's conception of the crisis of modernity in terms of the Romantic idea of the unity of the forms of experience and his philosophy of art. Contemporary civilisation is seen as corrupted by the suppression of emotion and is to be regenerated by art: the expression of emotion and truthful consciousness. In Part Two, the crisis of civilisation is explained as the failure of contemporary civilisation to significantly move beyond a dependency on a Platonic philosophy of being. The solution, it is proposed, is the development of a philosophy of becoming, which reconciles normative thinking with historical change. The criteria for value and truth are located, not in an ideal transcendent world, but in a 'way of life' in the widest sense. In this respect, Collingwood is compared with Ortega y Gasset and Nietzsche. Part Three demonstrates that Collingwood's dialectical philosophy
Murphy, Richard
Art, metaphysics and dialectic : R.G. Collingwood and the crisis of Western civilisation. This thesis argues that Collingwood's philosophy is best understood as a diagnosis of and response to a crisis of Western civilisation. The various and complementary aspects of the crisis of civilisation are explored and Collingwood is demonstrated to be working in the traditions of Romanticism and 'historicism'. In Part One, I examine Collingwood's conception of the crisis of modernity in terms of the Romantic idea of the unity of the forms of experience and his philosophy of art. Contemporary civilisation is seen as corrupted by the suppression of emotion and is to be regenerated by art: the expression of emotion and truthful consciousness. In Part Two, the crisis of civilisation is explained as the failure of contemporary civilisation to significantly move beyond a dependency on a Platonic philosophy of being. The solution, it is proposed, is the development of a philosophy of becoming, which reconciles normative thinking with historical change. The criteria for value and truth are located, not in an ideal transcendent world, but in a 'way of life' in the widest sense. In this respect, Collingwood is compared with Ortega y Gasset and Nietzsche. Part Three demonstrates that Collingwood's dialectical philosophy
art metaphysics dialectic rg_collingwood crisis western_civilisation argues collingwood philosophy best_understood diagnosis response crisis western_civilisation various complementary aspect crisis civilisation explore collingwood demonstrate work tradition romanticism historicism part_one_examine collingwood conception crisis modernity term romantic idea unity form experience philosophy_art contemporary civilisation see corrupt suppression emotion regenerate art expression emotion consciousness part_two crisis civilisation explain failure contemporary civilisation significantly move_beyond dependency platonic philosophy solution propose development philosophy become normative think historical_change criterion value truth locate ideal transcendent world way_life wide sense respect collingwood compare nietzsche part_three demonstrate collingwood dialectical philosophy