Without verbal resources for dating and describing past events the task of the historian would be impossible. Traditionally historians from Herodotus onwards rely uncritically on their own native languages (including Greek, Latin and English) to provide these resources. With this approach, they assimilate the traditional western view of the relationship between language, the world and the passage of time. This has determined the rational limits of historical knowledge. Without straying into the realms of myth or imagination their 'histories' could not go beyond these limits. Their philosophy of history was circumscribed by their implicit philosophy of language.

This book is the first comprehensive attempt to trace the relationship between the western philosophy of history and the western philosophy of language. It spans the development of education from the ancient Greeks to the present day. It examines the impact of history on modern movements, including structuralist and postmodern approaches, as well as the advent of television history.

Features

* The first comprehensive attempt to relate western philosophy of history to western philosophy of language

* The author is a leading authority on linguistics and the philosophy of language

* The book is written in an accessible style for all reading levels.