The problem of historical method in Arnold J. Toynbee's A study of history.

453 Pages·2017·20.72 MB·English

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Doctoral Dissertations 1896 - February 2014
1-1-1972
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David Lincoln Franz
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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THE PROBLEM OF HISTORICAL METHOD
IN ARNOLD J. TOYNBEE'S
A STUDY OF HISTORY
A dissertation Presented
By
David Lincoln Franz
Submitted to the Graduate School of the
University of Massachusetts in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
February 1972
Major Subject History
)
THE PROBLEM OF HISTORICAL METHOD
IN ARNOLD J. TOYNBEE'S
A STUDY OF HISTORY
A Dissertation
By
David Lincoln Franz
Approved as to style and content by
Chairman of Committee)
(Head of Department)
(Member)
iber
(MemH^r) C
J
v
February 1972
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many friends have contributed to this effort by their
sustained interest in the Toynbee discussion, and by sending
me notes on every new item of the Toynbee writing and contro-
versy.
would like to express special appreciation to Pro-
I
fessor Myron P. Gilmore of Harvard University for his help in
the early stages of the research, and to Professor Pieter
Geyl of the University of Utrecht for the extraordinary hos-
pitality he extended to me in the winter of 1955 during the
course of a Fulbright year in The Netherlands. His analyti-
cal gifts and the insights of Professor Herman Dooyeweerd of
the Free University of Amsterdam have been a source of great
enrichment to me ever since.
Among the librarians who have been of unusual assis-
tance in the tracking down of materials, I would like to
thank the staff of the London Library in St. James Square,
London, England; Mr. William Bond of the Houghton Library of
Harvard University; and Professor C. Milburn Keen of the
Gordon College Library of Wenham, Massachusetts. Not the
least of the special help from the librarians was the bles-
sing of a highly-trained typist and proof-reader in the
person of Mrs. Carolyn Umenhofer from the Gordon College
library staff.
1• 1• 1i
. .
During the difficult months of writing have been
I
especially grateful for the ready assistance of Professor
George E. Kirk, of the University of Massachusetts, a per-
sonal friend of Arnold J. Toynbee and a former colleague in
the work of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, who
was well able to guide me through the world of British histo-
rians. Arnold J. Toynbee 1 s career has displayed some unusual
parallels with that of the philosopher-historian R. G. Col-
lingwood; in their date of birth, years at Oxford, and mutual
interest in methodology of history, so that it was a privi-
lege to work under the guidance of an excellent Collingwood
scholar, Professor William M. Johnston of the University of
Massachusetts and to share in his wrestling with the problem
of historicism and contemporary European thought.
If a sure hand, a judicious eye and an unbounding
fund of encouragement are the marks of a good thesis advisor,
have found that and much more in the constant support and
I
help of .Professor Joseph M. Hernon of the University of
Massachusetts
Finally, would like to acknowledge with a deep
I
sense Of gratitude the unfailing confidence of my wife Doris,
and my four children, Paul, Carol, Calvin, and Becky that we
could recover the charred remains of this study from a disas-
trous fire and carry this part of the project to a successful
conclusion
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Reasons for This Study
Contemporary Interest in History of
Historical Thought
Recognized Importance of Toynbee as
Historian
Place of Toynbee in Present
Methodological Debates
B. Approach and Methods Employed
Value of a Methodological Approach
Use of a Motif Study in Tracing Changes
of Method
Significance of Metaphors in Toynbee 1 s
Writing
II. DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN HISTORICAL SCIENCES IN
GREAT BRITAIN FROM 1870 TO 1910 12
A. The Institutionalizing of History in the
British Universities
Changes Brought About by Education
Act of 1870
The Situation at Oxford University
Under William Stubbs
Developments at Cambridge and Other
British Universities
B. Flowering of the Scientific School of
History in the First Decade of the
Twentieth Century
Optimism of Hatch, Acton and Bury
Publication of the Cambridge History
Series
Tensions and Controversies Among the New
* C.
Historians
Failure of Neutrality in Creighton and
Stubbs
Acton-Creighton Controversy Takes an
Unexpected Turn
v
Chapter
III. TOYNBEE THE EXPLORER
51
A. Dual Use of the "Explorer" Metaphor
The "Explorer" as a Methodological
Innovator
The "Explorer" as a Guide to His
Western Civilization
B. Appearance and Meaning of the Explorer
Role in A Study of History
Tentative Introduction of the
"Explorer" Imagery
Infrequent Appearance in the Early
Volumes
Free Use of the Metaphor After
Volume Five
Metaphor Expresses an Epistemo logical
Change in Volume Five
Metaphor Used to Explain Dilemma of
the Historian Caught Between the
Dictates of Head and Heart
Historian-Explorer Must Go Beyond
the Facts
Appearance and Meaning of the Explorer
C.
Role in His Post-Study Writings
Explorer Images Used to Express
Ambiguity of Toynbee in the Face of
Two Conflicting Patterns of History
Explorer-Historian Opens Up the
Spiritual Meaning of History, Spins a
New Web of Meaning for His Contemporaries
Explorer-Image Expresses Courage of
Historian in Face of the Incurably
Infinite Ignorance of the Historian
The Dilemma of an Innate Self-
Centeredness Attached to the Motif
of the Life-Long Traveller
Summary of His View in the Picture of
the Pilgrim in a Cosmic Quandry, the
Constant Tension of Two Pulls Towards
Two Abysses
Summary of the Usages of the Explorer-Role
D.
in the Changing Methodology of Toynbee
vi
Chapter
IV. TOYNBEE THE SOCIAL SCIENTIST
102
A. Use of the Term "Social Scientist"
as a Self-Characterization
B. Recognition of Toynbee 1 s "Scientific"
Claims by the Critics
Pieter Geyl
John William Blyth
London Times Reviewer
C Definition of "Scientific" History
.
Not Limited to a Scientific Attitude
Not Limited to an "Unprejudiced
Observer"
Defined in Opposition to Traditional
Views
D. The New Methodology Based on the Role
of the Social Scientist
The Direct Claims to Infer "Laws of
Nature" in History
The Use of Methodological Metaphors
and Similes Which Express the Scientific
Approach to Human Affairs
E. Roots and Motivation of the New Scientific
Methodology
Methodological Clues Not Apparent in
the Early Writings of Toynbee
Toynbee' "First Attempt" to Write the
s
Study Took Place in 1920
Plan of the Study Begins to Take Shape
in 1921
Turning Point in Toynbee 1 s Career as
an Historian Occurs as We Approach the
Year 1927
What the New Methodology Promises To Do
....
V, THE LATER TOYNBEE AS A "STUDENT OF LIFE" 235
A. Use of the Term "Student of Life"
B. The "Student of Life" Motif Complements
the Researches of the Social Scientist
Toynbee Adopts Dilthey's Criticism of
Mechanism in Historiography
The Influence of Bergson in the Early
Volumes of the Study
Life is Revealed on the Deeper Plane
of Culture Rather Than on the Superficial
Planes of Politics and Economics
Life is Unique, Unpredictable and
Spiritual
vii
C. The "Student of Life" Motif Raises an
Epistemological Dilemma Which Threatens
to Invalidate the Method of Toynbee the
"Social Scientist"
The Historian's Need for Transfiguration
in Volume Six
The Modern Student of History is Like
the Soul in a Disintegrating Civilization
The Search for an Absolute in History
Beyond the Shimmer of Relativity is
Ended With the Finding of the "Civitas
Dei"
D. Effects of This Turning Point in the Study
Criticism of Anti-Rationalist and Non-
Empirical Aspects of Toynbee has
Developed Around This Issue
The Influence of the Turning Point Upon
Later Volumes of the Study
E. "Student of Life" Role Leads to a Solution
to the Problem of the Meaning of History
Spatial and Temporal Limitations of the
Historian Can Only be Transcended by a
Religious Experience
Toynbee 1 s Objections to the Restrictions
of Rationalism
Toynbee 1 s Arguments for the Proper -Use
of Reason
Toynbee Reconciliation of the Findings
1 s
of the Intellect With the Intuitions of
Religion
Chapter
VI. TOYNBEE'S QUEST ENDS AS "CHRISTIAN HISTORIAN" 314
.
Explanation of Approach Used
.A.
B. Use of Term "Christian Historian"
Term Introduced in Volume Five
Term Related to His Religious Experience
of 1936
Reflected in His Changing Attitude
Toward Humanism
Toynbee' First Theoretic Structure of
C* s
Reality
Greek Roots and Modern Expression
Use of Elan Motif as Historical
Explanation
viii