tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post5636280226431924307..comments2024-03-28T02:46:03.227-04:00Comments on The Historical Society: Sean Wilentz on Lincoln, Obama, and the Virtues of PoliticsRandallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-4099981547082417472009-07-29T11:28:45.813-04:002009-07-29T11:28:45.813-04:00Lisa Clark Diller,
You may be correct that "h...Lisa Clark Diller,<br />You may be correct that "historians are all too likely to want to avoid the messiness of a good political fight." However, my experience indicates that that a bigger problem is that historians are much too likely to let their views of "current political fights" color the historical narratives and interpretations expressed with those "beautiful words" they celebrate. I am not saying Wilentz is doing that in this essay (and I would never put Wilentz in the shameful category of "historians" such as Howard Zinn or Joseph Ellis). Still, the tendency of many historians to want to indoctrinate, rather than dispassionately produce and disseminate knowledge, makes the notion of "professional" historians almost a joke (a sad joke, but a joke nonetheless) and presents the profession with a problem much greater than any problem of historians wanting to avoid the messiness of a good political fight.olrtexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05408560784922438610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-8563171751782438322009-07-24T08:02:28.201-04:002009-07-24T08:02:28.201-04:00oh don't tease us like that, Chris! The histo...oh don't tease us like that, Chris! The history of Lutheran political thinkers have been treated WAY too respectfully. Definitely needs the Mitt Romney treatment...Lisa Clark Dillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00155783885263417225noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-54689300380056285222009-07-23T14:07:12.575-04:002009-07-23T14:07:12.575-04:00Randall--I believe that the term was actually coin...Randall--I believe that the term was actually coined by Teddy Roosevelt in 1905. <br /><br />Lisa--My long awaited piece comparing Mit Romney to Samuel Pufendorf will be self-published soon. It's certain to set the political world abuzz, and create more endowed chairs in your field.Chris Benekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08623325601668600846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-47048416918920959012009-07-23T11:11:56.811-04:002009-07-23T11:11:56.811-04:00This is not so related, but I'll relate it any...This is not so related, but I'll relate it anyhow. <br /><br />I was thinking about Mugwumpery and wondered if there is such a thing as a Mugwimp. That would be a 19th-century-style reformer who, though passionate, was too timid to do much reforming.Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-41976592418063734262009-07-23T11:08:12.221-04:002009-07-23T11:08:12.221-04:00Here, here. I like the idea of making history mor...Here, here. I like the idea of making history more public and more of a subject to debate. Seems to help with the idea, lost on the public sometimes, that history does not fall from the sky like a "self-evident truth."Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16755286304057000048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7872819010848426693.post-62333423046793950382009-07-23T09:59:21.731-04:002009-07-23T09:59:21.731-04:00This seems to be a good reminder that we historian...This seems to be a good reminder that we historians are all too likely to want to avoid the messiness of a good political fight when there are beautiful words to celebrate. Now if someone would just do this for John Locke and late seventeenth century liberalism in general.Lisa Clark Dillerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00155783885263417225noreply@blogger.com