European University Institute Library

British abolitionism and the question of moral progress in history, edited by Donald A. Yerxa

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages [273]-276) and index

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

index present

non fiction

British abolitionism and the question of moral progress in history

bibliography

733228103

edited by Donald A. Yerxa

The idea of progress may well be one of the most important products of Western civilization. Yet most historians avoid the subject, especially the notion that there has been significant moral progress over time, and favor contingency and human agency over teleology as the engines of contemporary historical inquiry. In this collection, an international cast of prominent historians use the abolition of the British slave trade as a case study for exploring the larger interpretive question of moral progress in history. Approaching their subject from the standpoints of social, economic, religious, scientific, and political history, the fourteen contributors explore connections between religious belief and social transformation, the material and cultural structures needed to translate altruism into successful political movements, and the measurements--if any--historians might use to denote moral progress. In taking up this inquiry, the essayists also broach larger questions of identifying what forces truly can be said to shape history and how one might delineate the capacity and limitations of historiography as a source for instructive philosophical lessons. The result is an illuminating conversation on abolition as a springboard for understanding the nature of historical knowledge in relation to authorial perspective, political and religious values, and postmodern philosophical claims of direction in the human experience. The work serves as a model for approaching the big questions of history with a goal, not of consensus, but of spirited debate and rich engagement --, Provided by Publisher

I. British abolitionism -- Slavery, emancipation, and progress / David Brion Davis -- Suppressing the slave trade / Jeremy Black -- Popular evangelicalism and the shaping of British moral sensibilities, 1770-1840 / David Hempton -- Slavery, antislavery, and moral progress: a comparative historical perspective / Lamin Sanneh -- The recent historiography of British abolitionism: academic scholarship, popular history, and the broader reading public / Eric Arnesen -- The lessons of history: generalizations, traditions, and inspirations / C. Behan McCullagh -- II. Moral progress in specific historical contexts -- Science, religion, and modernity: early modern science and the idea of moral progress / Peter Harrison -- Is there moral progress in history?: the old Kantian question raised yet again / Allan Megill -- III. Is moral progress possible? -- A long-term economic perspective on recent human progress / Gary M. Walton -- Reflections on religion, historical progress, and professional historians / Bruce Kuklick -- Revisiting the idea of progress in history: the perspectives of Herbert Butterfield, Christopher Dawson, and Reinhold Niebuhr / Wilfred M. McClay -- IV. Moreal progress in specific Christian traditions -- American liberal Protestantism and the concept of progress, 1870-1930 / Jon H. Roberts -- Theologically conservative Christianity and moral progress: the problem of correlation / George M. Marsden -- Afterword: cultural change, the biggest question for historians / Felipe Fernández Armesto