Re: Hofstadter

Dennis Claxton wrote:

Is it a Cox-like shyness about generalizing about patterns of thought, because everything is so incommensurate?

From my experience as a history grad student, it’s more an apolitical disinclination to speculate about what causes major changes. I think the last big debate over a question like that among historians was maybe the Brenner (from Robert Brenner) debate about the transiton from feudalism to capitalism.

Yeah, well Brenner’s a red. But the Brenner debate was, what, 25-30 years ago, right?

Doug

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