1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910820277203321

Titolo

American labyrinth : intellectual history for complicated times / / edited by Raymond Haberski Jr. and Andrew Hartman

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Ithaca ; ; London : , : Cornell University Press, , 2018

ISBN

1-5017-3023-1

1-5017-3022-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (viii, 334 pages)

Disciplina

973

Soggetti

Geistesleben

Geschichtsschreibung

HISTORY / United States / General

United States Historiography

United States Intellectual life

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Mapping American ideas -- Ideas and American identities -- Dangerous ideas -- Contested ideas -- Conclusion : the idea of historical context and the intellectual historian /  Daniel Wickberg.

Sommario/riassunto

Intellectual history has never been more relevant and more important to public life in the United States. In complicated and confounding times, people look for the principles that drive action and the foundations that support national ideals. American Labyrinth demonstates the power of intellectual history to illuminate our public life and examine our ideological assumptions.This volume of essays brings together 19 influential intellectual historians to contribute original thoughts on topics of widespread interest. Raymond Haberski Jr. and Andrew Hartman asked a group of nimble, sharp scholars to respond to a simple question: How might the resources of intellectual history help shed light on contemporary issues with historical resonance? The answers-all rigorous, original, and challenging-are as eclectic in approach and temperament as the authors are different in their interests and methods. Taken together, the essays of American Labyrinth illustrate how intellectual historians, operating in many



different registers at once and ranging from the theoretical to the political, can provide telling insights for understanding a public sphere fraught with conflict.In order to understand why people are ready to fight over cultural symbols and political positions we must have insight into how ideas organize, enliven, and define our lives. Ultimately, as Haberski and Hartman show in this volume, the best route through our contemporary American labyrinth is the path that traces our practical and lived ideas.