Metahistory of Western Knowledge in the Modern Era

Mark E. Blum is a professor of European history at the University of Louisville. He has a master’s degree in English history from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Austrian-German history from the University of Pennsylvania. He has published over nine books, several focusing upon the epistemology of human consciousness – in its verbal as well as figural foundations.

• Introduction; Part I The First Modern Metaparadigm, c.1648–c.1750; Chapter One The First Phase: Seminal Ideation, c.1648–c.1670: The Focus upon Definition and Hypothesis; Chapter Two The Second Phase: Developing a Systematic Theory for Future Inquiry and Problem-Solving c.1670–c.1690; Chapter Three The Third Phase: Material Inquiry into the Verifiability of Specific Concepts, and Conflict over the Implications of the Findings c.1690–c.1720; Chapter Four The Fourth Phase: Integrating the New Four Causal Understandings with the Traditional c.1720–c.1750; Part II The Second Modern Metaparadigm, c.1750–c.1865; Chapter Five The First Phase: Seminal Ideation, c.1750–c.1770: The Focus upon Definition and Hypothesis; Chapter Six The Second Phase: Developing a Systematic Structure for Guiding New Inquiry and Explanation c.1770–c.1790; Chapter Seven The Third Phase: Material Inquiry into the Verifiability of Specific Concepts, and Conflict over the Implications of the Findings c.1790–c.1820; Chapter Eight The Fourth Phase: Integrating the New Four Causal Understandings with the Traditional c.1820–c.1860; Part III The Third Modern Metaparadigm c.1860–c.1960; Chapter Nine The First Phase: Seminal Ideation, c.1860–1870: The Focus upon Definition and Hypothesis; Chapter Ten The Second Phase: Developing a Systematic Structure for Guiding New Inquiry and Explanation c.1870–c.1895; Chapter Eleven The Third Phase: Material Inquiry into the Verifiability of Specific Concepts, and Conflict over the Implications of the Findings c.1890–c.1920; Chapter Twelve The Fourth Phase: Integrating the New Four Causal Understandings with the Traditional c.1920–c.1960; Part IV The Fourth Modern Metaparadigm, c.1970–c.2060; Chapter Thirteen The First Phase: Seminal Ideation, c.1960–1980: The Focus upon Definition and Hypothesis; Chapter Fourteen The Second Phase: Developing a Systematic Structure for Guiding New Inquiry and Explanation c.1970–1990; Chapter Fifteen The Third Phase: Material Inquiry into the Verifiability of Specific Concepts, and Conflict over the Implications of the Findings c.1990–c. 2020; Bibliography; Index.

“Blum’s vision is as panoramic as the title suggests, moving freely among fields usually kept separate from Pufendorff to Elfriede Jelinek. The work will stimulate discussion and controversy, as ambitious projects always do. It will interest anyone who values the European tradition of grand meta-historical thinking. Whatever one’s verdict on Blum's “metaparadigms,” it is heartening to see the revival of a genre that had once seemed defunct.” — Hans Kellner, Professor of English, Chair of the NCSU Faculty, North Carolina State University, USA