A xénese do historicismo

Historismus, historicism in English, is the great contribution of the German historical school to universal culture, both on the historiographical and philosophical levels. The author himself, Friedrich Meinecke, states in the preface to this book: “The core of historicism consists in the replacement of a generalizing consideration of historical human forces by another of an individualizing nature.” A xénese do historicismo (Die Entstehung des Historismus, 1936; English title Historism: The Rise of a New Historical Outlook) is the work of a professional historian who investigates the genesis of an intellectual discipline that had already undergone profound changes in the Age of Enlightenment but that would yield its best fruits after the revolutions of the late 18th century, a turbulent time that favored the emergence of a consolidated historical knowledge, in the following century, with its institutionalization by national states. Such a clear disciplinary mutation was especially intense in the German world. This explains its hegemony in European historiography, which accepted German historical methodology in several of its most defining features: seminar work, the method of philological criticism and the professionalization of teachers and students. Another way of researching and writing history was born.

Clásicos do Pensamento Universal is the product of a collaboration between the BBVA Foundation and the University of Santiago de Compostela. Created in 2002, this collection has the aim of publishing and disseminating great works of scientific, humanistic and social thought translated into Galician. Under the direction of Darío Villanueva, a selection has been made of titles that stand as an unquestioned landmark in mankind’s intellectual history, translated from the original language. Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, Newton, Lavoisier, Beccaria, Darwin, Bernard, Von Neumann, Popper, McLuhan, and other illustrious authors can now be read in Galician, in rigorous critical editions, with each volume introduced by a specialist in the subject matter.