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VERSION:2.0
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URL:https://lectures.london/cambridge-university/the-origins-of-the-modern
 -concept-of-the-historical-era-natural-philosophy-theology-and-the-scottis
 h-enlightenment/calender.ics
NAME:Lectures London
X-WR-CALNAME:Lectures London
TIMEZONE-ID:Europe/London
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Europe/London
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DTSTAMP:20261001T120415
DTSTART:20261006T130000
DTEND:20261006T140000
SUMMARY:The Origins of the Modern Concept of the Historical Era: Natural P
 hilosophy\, Theology\, and the Scottish Enlightenment
LOCATION:Cambridge University: Westminster College
DESCRIPTION:On 6th October at 1pm Dr Sarah Irving-Stonebraker will give a 
 seminar entitled ‘The Origins of the Modern Concept of the Historical Er
 a: Natural Philosophy\, Theology\, and the Scottish Enlightenment’. Abst
 ract: The early modern period witnessed a gradual but profound transformat
 ion in how the past was understood in relation to the present. In Renaissa
 nce historiography\, the past functioned primarily as a repository of anal
 ogues and exemplary episodes for moral instruction. By the eighteenth cent
 ury\, however\, the past was increasingly conceived in terms of processes 
 that actively shaped\, rather than merely preceded\, the present. In short
 \, the past came to be understood not merely as exemplary\, but as causal.
  A key element of this transformation was Scottish Enlightenment historian
  William Robertson’s pioneering reconceptualisation of the historical er
 a\, not simply as a chronological period\, but as a distinct phase in hist
 ory whose characteristic processes shaped subsequent centuries. Robertson 
 formulated this conception by applying concepts of causation drawn from na
 tural philosophy to historical explanation. Employing terms such as genera
 l laws\, instruments\, motions\, and effects\, Robertson argued that each 
 historical era was structured by a distinctive configuration of secondary 
 causes. The historical era thus became the means by which divine providenc
 e operated through the ordinary course of nature and history. In doing so\
 , he offered a striking theological alternative to David Hume’s secular 
 historiography and intervened in eighteenth-century debates over divine ac
 tion in a law-governed universe. This study helps illuminate the formative
 \, yet insufficiently explored\, roles of natural philosophy and theology 
 in shaping the modern understanding of the past as causally related to the
  present. A light sandwich lunch will be provided from 12:30pm in the Shas
 ha Suite\, Woolf Building\, Westminster College\, Madingley Road\, Cambrid
 ge. Please be seated by 12:50pm so that the seminar can start promptly.
URL;VALUE=URI:http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/whatson/detail.shtml?uid=8583b94a
 -8a9a-46af-84d4-13643912bb81
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