The broad canvas covered by the articles in the present volume celebrates the diversity and richness of the writings of Frank Manuel during a scholarly career that spans over five decades. The subjects of the articles - ranging from science to utopia, from theology to political thought - mirror many of the themes Manuel has written about with erudition, flair and uncommon perception. It is only fitting that in paying tribute to such a defiant intellect each author brings to his treatment a distinct perspective and texture, the result of his own original forays into the history of ideas. Yet underlying all the essays is the conviction that the study of the intersection of individuals and ideas still yields a rich harvest. Presented to Frank on the occasion of his eightieth birthday, In the Presence o/the Past honors a teacher, a friend and, above all, a scholar. R. T. Bienvenu and M. Feingold (eds). ln the presence of the past. vii. MARTIN PERETZ Frank Manuel: An Appreciation It was finally because of Frank Edward Manuel that I decided (however belatedly) to forgo a proper academic career. Since I had not left so much as a leafscar on the tree of the scholarly culture this is not a fact which anyone else would have reason to notice. It is also not, I am happy to add, something for which Manuel will be especially remembered.
The period between the Peace of Utrecht and the French Revolution is brought into focus in this essay. Professor Manuel deals with the age of the philosophes and the enlightened despots, when belief in man's ability to achieve a good society through reason was in its first hopeful flower. The powerful pressures of that time are evaluated - the rapidly increasing population, the phenomenal growth of cities and industries, the greater facility of travel and transportation, The modern nation-state, as exemplified in France, England, the Hapsburg Empire, Prussia, and Russia, was growing strong and centralized. The relations of these states to one another are discussed.
The authors have structured five centuries of utopian invention by identifying successive constellations, groups of thinkers joined by common social and moral concerns. Within this framework they analyze individual writings, in the context of the author's life and of the socio-economic, religious, and political exigencies of his time.
The authors have structured five centuries of utopian invention by identifying successive constellations, groups of thinkers joined by common social and moral concerns. Within this framework they analyze individual writings, in the context of the author's life and of the socio-economic, religious, and political exigencies of his time.
A history of the early years of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, & the life & career of James Bowdoin, the Academy's first president. The strength of the work rests in a combination of its subject matter & execution. The subject matter is both intrinsically interesting & simultaneously neglected. Neither the accomplishments of Bowdoin nor the contributions of the members of the Academy have been adequately studied, & the Manuel's careful exploration is a valuable addition to our understanding of the founding of the nation. Using primary manuscript sources, the work is, by turns, witty, learned, & often simply fascinating. An incomparable account of one of Revolutionary America's most elusive & fascinating figures.
A history of the early years of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, & the life & career of James Bowdoin, the Academy's first president. The strength of the work rests in a combination of its subject matter & execution. The subject matter is both intrinsically interesting & simultaneously neglected. Neither the accomplishments of Bowdoin nor the contributions of the members of the Academy have been adequately studied, & the Manuel's careful exploration is a valuable addition to our understanding of the founding of the nation. Using primary manuscript sources, the work is, by turns, witty, learned, & often simply fascinating. An incomparable account of one of Revolutionary America's most elusive & fascinating figures.
In these seven lectures, the author looks at the ways in which philosophical historians over the last 2000 years have looked at the nature of man and the shape of human history. He identifies two modes of historical perception, the cyclical and progressive: on the one hand the historical world seen as movement either to a fixed end, or to an indefinite end that defines itself in the course of progression, history as novelty-creating and always variant; on the other hand circularity, eternal recurrence, return to the beginning of things, sheer reiteration or similar recapitulation..... By tracing the development of these two shapes of philosophical history from the onset of the Christian era through to the present, the author argues, they reveal themselves to be less a logical than a psychological polarity. In some periods there may be a weightier commitment to one or the other, but neither has dominated the European intellectual field without the presence in some form of its rival.
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