Temps, progrès et races dans les Lumières écossaises
Recent historiography has identified an important point : Scotland’s Enlightenment literati – David Hume, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, Lord Kames, William Robertson, and John Millar – contributed to establish a new historical method based on the idea of progress. My aim here is to show that ‘race’ was...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | fra |
| Published: |
Association Paul Langevin
2020-09-01
|
| Series: | Cahiers d’histoire. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/chrhc/14482 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832581122061500416 |
|---|---|
| author | Silvia Sebastiani |
| author_facet | Silvia Sebastiani |
| author_sort | Silvia Sebastiani |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent historiography has identified an important point : Scotland’s Enlightenment literati – David Hume, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, Lord Kames, William Robertson, and John Millar – contributed to establish a new historical method based on the idea of progress. My aim here is to show that ‘race’ was one of the answers that the Scots gave to the questions opened up by a progressive conception of history. Scottish literati explained the observable differences among peoples according to a universal pattern of development, from ‘savagery’ to ‘civil society’. The comparative perspective enabled the ‘savage’ and the ‘civil’ to be examined as subjects of societies on the same historical path, though progressing along it at different rates and in different times. Although this historical method meant that the ‘savage’ could become ‘civil’ by means of progress, the very principle of comparison raised two other problems : first, the problem of the social and cultural distance between different societies; second, the question of the unequal progress. Why had Amerindians remained in the ‘savage’ stage of hunting ? Why were the societies of Northern Europe considered the only ones to have completed all the stages of historic progress ? In seeking to explain the crucial question of non-homogeneous progress of human societies, Scotland’s Enlightenment literati deployed an analysis that came to rely on the concept of ‘race’. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-defb82d7e7d941798e7822aa55c0bc2c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1271-6669 2102-5916 |
| language | fra |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Association Paul Langevin |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers d’histoire. |
| spelling | doaj-art-defb82d7e7d941798e7822aa55c0bc2c2025-01-30T10:29:16ZfraAssociation Paul LangevinCahiers d’histoire.1271-66692102-59162020-09-01146274610.4000/chrhc.14482Temps, progrès et races dans les Lumières écossaisesSilvia SebastianiRecent historiography has identified an important point : Scotland’s Enlightenment literati – David Hume, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, Lord Kames, William Robertson, and John Millar – contributed to establish a new historical method based on the idea of progress. My aim here is to show that ‘race’ was one of the answers that the Scots gave to the questions opened up by a progressive conception of history. Scottish literati explained the observable differences among peoples according to a universal pattern of development, from ‘savagery’ to ‘civil society’. The comparative perspective enabled the ‘savage’ and the ‘civil’ to be examined as subjects of societies on the same historical path, though progressing along it at different rates and in different times. Although this historical method meant that the ‘savage’ could become ‘civil’ by means of progress, the very principle of comparison raised two other problems : first, the problem of the social and cultural distance between different societies; second, the question of the unequal progress. Why had Amerindians remained in the ‘savage’ stage of hunting ? Why were the societies of Northern Europe considered the only ones to have completed all the stages of historic progress ? In seeking to explain the crucial question of non-homogeneous progress of human societies, Scotland’s Enlightenment literati deployed an analysis that came to rely on the concept of ‘race’.https://journals.openedition.org/chrhc/14482raceScottish Enlightenmentprogressnational charactershistorical narrativetemporalities |
| spellingShingle | Silvia Sebastiani Temps, progrès et races dans les Lumières écossaises Cahiers d’histoire. race Scottish Enlightenment progress national characters historical narrative temporalities |
| title | Temps, progrès et races dans les Lumières écossaises |
| title_full | Temps, progrès et races dans les Lumières écossaises |
| title_fullStr | Temps, progrès et races dans les Lumières écossaises |
| title_full_unstemmed | Temps, progrès et races dans les Lumières écossaises |
| title_short | Temps, progrès et races dans les Lumières écossaises |
| title_sort | temps progres et races dans les lumieres ecossaises |
| topic | race Scottish Enlightenment progress national characters historical narrative temporalities |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/chrhc/14482 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT silviasebastiani tempsprogresetracesdansleslumieresecossaises |