Collingwood on the Ideas of Process, Progress, and Civilization

Abstract

In his Autobiography Collingwood maintains that philosophy of history not only concerns epistemological problems but also what he calls ‘metaphysical’ problems ‘concerned with the nature of the historian’s subject-matter’. As examples, he mentions, besides event, the elucidation of the terms process, progress, and civilization. This chapter explores the way Collingwood has dealt with these concepts. It is pointed out that his views on the notions of process and progress on the one side should be seen within the context of those on change, development, and evolution, and on the other of the distinction between nature and (human) history. As regards the idea of progress in history, Collingwood distinguishes four positions: it is dependent on a point of view; it is meaningless; it is meaningful; it is necessary. The idea of progress is in Collingwood’s view necessary in solving present problems, both theoretical and practical. In the latter case, it may be considered a guiding principle in practical life. The concept of civilization is not only dealt with in The New Leviathan, but also in the manuscript ‘What “Civilization” Means’ written in preparation for this book. In the latter, Collingwood explains that the notion of civilization embodies certain ideals, making a distinction between two orders of ideals: the factual level of ideals that have been realized in a society, and a second order of ideals consisting of ideals that are recognized but not realized. The latter Collingwood describes as the elements of barbarism within a civilization. Advancement in civilization is feasible by detecting and eradicating the barbarous elements in one’s civilization, guided by the idea of progress.