Toward a renovation of the history of philosophy: some ad hoc reflections

Abstract

In the present article, the author describes a situation in the history of philosophy which is characterized by the domination of what one might call the 'standard approach', i. e. the sum of immanent preferences in the mind of the scholar that reduce the main work of a historian to an analysis of properly philosophical texts and their interpretation revealing the filiation of philosophical ideas and concepts. In other words, the core of this approach is the interpretation of philosophical thought as a doctrine emanating, in accordance with some sort of intrinsic logic, from preceding doctrines. Vizguine suggests that the revival of the history of philosophy might follow the path of convergence with the history of ideas. He also refers to the history of science with its constant pursuit of renovation of methods and approaches as a possible example for the history of philosophy. The criteria of efficiency of future attempts at such a renewal may serve culture-centric orientation, existential vigour of thought and the use of creative resources in the philosophical and historical discourse and narrative.