Bloomsbury Handbook of the Philosophy of the Historical Sciences and Big History

Aviezer Tucker is the Director of the Centre for the Philosophy of Historiography at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic. His publications include Historiographic Reasoning (2024) and Our Knowledge of the Past: A Philosophy of Historiography (2004), as well as numerous articles and reviews about the philosophy of historiography and the philosophy of science. He also edited A Companion to the Philosophy of History and Historiography (2009). He taught or held research positions at the Central European University, Palacky University, Columbia University, New York University, Trinity College, Long Island University, the Australian National University, Queens University, the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, the University of Cologne, the University of Texas in Austin, and Harvard University.David Cernín is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Ostrava, Czech Republic and a member of the university’s Centre for the Philosophy of Historiography. He has published on topics including historical realism and anti-realism, intellectual history, and history education. His most recent co-authored book, History Education between Science and Narration (published in Czech as Dejepis mezi vedou a vyprávením), was published in 2023 and partly explored the educational potential of Big History.

• List of ContributorsAcknowledgementsIntroduction – History is not What it Used to Be, Aviezer Tucker and Davd Cernín, both University of Ostrava, CzechiaPart One: The scopes of History and historiographyPhilosophy of Big History, David Cernín, University of Ostrava, CzechiaBig History – history, science, or ‘other’?, Brian Villmoare, University of Nevada, USANatural History, James W. McAllister, University of Leiden, the NetherlandsMore-than-Human History, Marek Tamm, Tallinn University, Estonia and Zoltán Boldizsár Simon, Bielefeld University, GermanyEpistemic and Ontological Divide between Human History and Prehistory, David Cernín, University of Ostrava, CzechiaGlobal History in Historiography, Q. Edward Wang, Rowan University, USAUniversal History, Georg Gangl, University of Ostrava, CzechiaThe Necessity of Speculation: A Comparison of Big History & Speculative Philosophy of History, Naif Al Bidh, University of Keele, UKPart Two: Ontology and Epistemology of HistoryThe Ontology of the Past, Adam Timmins, University of Ostrava, CzechiaThe Originary Sciences, Aviezer Tucker, University of Ostrava, CzechiaHistorical Necessity vs. Contingency, Alexander Maar, State University of Amapá, BrazilDetermination, overdetermination, and underdetermination in the historical sciences, Efraim Wallach, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IsraelPrediction and Testing in Historical Natural Science, Thomas Rossetter, Durham University, UKCounterfactuals, Alexander Maar, State University of Amapá, BrazilThe End of History: Bang, or Whimper?, Matthew Slaboch, Arizona State University, USADeep Time in Pseudoscience and Pseudo-History, Ronald H. Fritze, Athens State University, USAPart Three: The philosophies of the Special Historical SciencesOn the Synthesis of Historical Linguistics and Cognate Disciplines, Frank Cabrera, University of Arkansas, USATextual Criticism, Ronald Hendel, University of California, Berkeley, USAGeology: The Philosophy of Geology as History of This and Other Worlds, Daniel Swaim, Marquette University, USAEvolutionary Biology, David C. Krakauer and Douglas Erwin, both Santa Fe Institute, USASystematics: Inference of the Biological Past, Kirk Fitzhugh, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, USAPhilosophy of Archaeology, Dinçer Çevik, Mugla Sitki Koçman University, TurkeyAstronomy, Cosmology, and the Distant Past, Jamee Elder, Tufts University, USAThe First Three Minutes: Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Particle Physics, Siyu Yao, Indiana University Bloomington, USAThe Philosophy and Theory of Environmental History, Esa Ruuskanen and Kari Väyrynen, both University of Oulu, FinlandBibliographyIndex

Philosophers of science have paid far too little attention to investigations of the deep past, and philosophers of history to the methodologically omnivorous, interdisciplinary beast that the study of human pasts has become. This collected volume finally put both discussions firmly on the map by pulling together work from philosophers and scientists, covering everything from the universe’s first few seconds to just about yesterday. It’s About Time.