丹尼尔·布尔斯廷的史学思想研究

【作者】 李晶洁；

【导师】 张广智；

【作者基本信息】 复旦大学 ， 史学理论与史学史， 2008， 博士

【摘要】 本文通过梳理和解读美国二战后著名历史学家丹尼尔·布尔斯廷(Daniel J.Boorstin)的史学思想,凸显这位出色的学者对美国史学发展的贡献及其在美国史学史上的重要地位,并以此揭示处于转型时期的美国史学特征、乃至整个西方史学的特征。本论文由导论、结语和四章组成,兹分别介绍如下:导论部分概述了布尔斯廷的生平和学术背景以及国内外对布尔斯廷史学思想的研究状况。鉴于目前国内外还未曾有对布尔斯廷史学思想全面、系统的研究,笔者希望能够填补这项西方史学史研究的空白。第一章以詹姆士、杜威代表的美国实用主义哲学为参照系,讨论了布尔斯廷史学思想所表现出的实用主义哲学观。该章从理论和实践的关系、“实验性”的探究以及实用主义价值观等维度考察了布尔斯廷实用主义哲学的主张和特点,同时,笔者还试图说明,布尔斯廷的实用主义哲学是根植在美国特定的历史、文化土壤中的一种价值观。第二章阐述了布尔斯廷如何以“生活方式”为线索,把过去、现在和将来这三个世界紧密地联系在一起。本章的重点是布尔斯廷对“法”的理解。他所理解的“法”就是人们的生活方式在社会中的制度化表现,是人们理解过去的重要凭证。“法”是宗教的延长,“法”就是贯穿人类历史的过去、现在和将来的精神纽带,而扭曲的“法”的意识会不可避免地给社会带来信仰危机。第三章以进步学派为参照系,考察了布尔斯廷的社会政治观——保守主义的四个鲜明特点,它们是:自然主义的“天意”观、反理性主义的怀疑论、宪政至上和具有“历史感”的民主观。在本章中,笔者还试图从生命哲学的角度解释保守主义,希望澄清学界可能会对布尔斯廷的保守主义持有的偏见和误解。第四章从“历史审美”的角度探索了布尔斯廷在历史写作方法方面的特点。该章探讨了“历史审美”的内涵,并从“写人民的历史”、“历史写作是亲密的体验”、“整体性历史观”等不同角度,试图找出布尔斯廷的历史作品在普通读者中获得“共鸣”的深刻原因。更多还原

【Abstract】 Daniel J. Boorstin was one of the most famous historians in the 20^th-century post-war America. The dissertation unscrambles his historical thoughts to show his contributions to and important influence on American historiography. I believe it will display the character of American and western historiography in its changing stage. The following is the primary content of each chapter:The prologue is an overview of Boorstin’s general background, academic achievements and the related researches on Boorstin. Considering the fact that so far, there is no systematic research on Boorstin’s overall historical thoughts, I hope this dissertation will fill in the blank in western historiography.Chapter one deals with Boorstin’s pragmatism with John Dewey and William James’s pragmatism as reference. The chapter explores Boorstin’s pragmatistic characters from different dimensions such as theory and practice, experimentalistic exploration, pragmatistic value, etc. The author wants to claim that Boorstin’s pragmatism is a value deeply rooted in the America’s specific soil of history and culture.Chapter two looks at how Boorstin connects the past, the present and the future with "way of life "as the clue. The focus of the chapter is Boorstin’s understanding of "law". Boorstin’s "law" is the institutionalized representation of "way of life" in a society. Law is the important voucher with which people understand the past. Law is the extension of religion. Law is the emotional element that ties the past, the present and the future. A distorted thought about law will unavoidably cause crisis in a society.Chapter three explores the four features of Boorstin’s social political view---conservatism, that is, the providential thought of a naturalist, anti-rationalism skepticism, constitutional politics and a historical democracy. One of the important points of the chapter is that conservatism is a philosophy of life. Through this chapter, the author hopes to mitigate people’s misunderstanding about conservatism.Chapter four approaches Boorstin’s historical writing from the perspective of historical aesthetics. The author’s main argument here is that Boorstin writes for the people and about the people.更多还原