Other
Le Goff - History of Ambiguities - 166-180 - Reading Notes
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Reading Notes for chapter 'Mentalities: A History of Ambiguities' by Jacques Le Goff in 'Constructing the Past: Essays in Historical Methodology'
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
Seller
Follow
cocoamor
Reviews received
Content preview
Mentalities: a History of Ambiguities by Jacques Le Goff - 166-180 (VLE)References
Footnotes - Jacques Le Goff, ‘Mentalities: a History of Ambiguities’ in Constructing the Past: Essays in
Historical Methodology, edited by G.R. Elton, Jacques Le Goff and Pierre Nora (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Pressl, 1985) 166-180.
Bibliography - Le Goff, Jacques. “Mentalities: a History of Ambiguities.” In Constructing the Past: Essays
in historical Methodology, edited by G.R. Elton, Jacques Le Goff and Pierre Nora, 166-180. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Notes and Quotes
- ‘The notion of 'mentality', then, refers to a kind of historical beyond. Its function, as a concept, is to
satisfy the historian's desire to `go further', and it leads to a point of contact with the other human
sciences’ - 167
- The idea that mentalities as a concept picks up the aspects of history which other methods cannot
reach is an interesting point. Although this may be generally true, this attitude to the method
suggests using a search for mentalities as a last step of analysing a source when it may be more useful
to understand the attitudes of the author and the society prior to attempting to construct a more
detailed and accurate image of a society
- ‘The primary attraction of the history of mentalities lies in its vagueness: it can be used to refer to the
left-overs, the indefinable residue of historical analysis.’ - 166
- ‘The history of mentalities operates at the level of the everyday automatisms of behaviour. Its object is
that which escapes historical individuals because it reveals the impersonal content of their thought:’ -
169
- This illustrates that historians use the method of searching for mentalities to find historical evidence in
what is unintentionally in the source, for example the language used or the tone of the writing. It is
also interesting to consider that as a result of these aspects being the least intentional aspects of the
source they may perhaps be the most accurate sources of evidence for a historian to learn about a
society.
- ‘Two stages may be noted: first, the identification of different strata and fragments of what, following
Andre Varagnac's term 'archaeocivilisation', we may call 'archaeopsychology'; and, secondly, since these
remnants are nevertheless ordered according to certain criteria of mental, if not logical, coherence, the
historian must determine these psychic systems of organisation’ - 169
- This demonstrates that this method historiography is perhaps more scientific than other methods,
having a specific process and being based on scientific principles around psychology. Again this may
lead us to believe that these unintentional aspects of the sources are the most useful as well as being
clearly defined unlike the majority of historical methodology
- ‘The French mentalite is borrowed from the English 'mentality', which dates back to the seventeenth
century and is a product of seventeenth-century English philosophy, referring to the collective
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller cocoamor. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $6.19. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
76667 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now
Recently viewed by you
