Robin G. Collingwood

history human knowledge done do is

“History is for human self-knowledge…the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history, then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is.”

― R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943)

natural science knowledge world utility dismember master

“Thus natural science is not a way of knowing the real world; its value lies not in its truth but in its utility; by scientific thought we do not know nature, we dismember it in order to master it.”

― R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943)

rational truth justify criticism discussion

“Rational truth—and all truth is rational—is essentially that which can justify itself under criticism and in discussion.”

― R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943)

beginner science master life forever

“A man ceases to be a beginner in any given science and becomes a master in that science when he has learned that he is going to be a beginner all his life.”

― R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943)

economics description action abstract arbitrary fictious entity

“Economics is not a true description of one kind of action but an abstract, arbitrary, and therefore erroneous description of all action; and the ‘economic man’ whom it describes is not, in these days, denied to be a fictitious entity”

― R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943)

world imagination thought implicit explicit

“The world of imagination is thought implicit, the world of thought, so called, is thought explicit.”

― R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943)

revolutionary god reactionaries clarify issue

"Like other revolutionaries I can thank God for the reactionaries. They clarify the issue."

― Robin G. Collingwood (1889-1943)

perfect freedom live own work want

"Perfect Freedom is reserved for the man who lives by his own work, and in that work does what he wants to do."

― Robin G. Collingwood (1889-1943)

classical art form romantic content

"Classical art stands for form; romantic art for content."

― Robin G. Collingwood (1889-1943)

history value man done is

"The value of history. ..is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is."

― Robin G. Collingwood (1889-1943)