Detachment, Objectivity, Imagination: A Critique

What is detachment? What is objectivity? Is the empirical study of ‘facts’ enough? Descartes, Kant, Mill and others all emphasised the rational human who could detach themselves from the world, observing and calculating; absorbing the facts. This idea of detachment characterises the approach of both the social and the natural sciences. But what exactly does it mean? That an observer can put their own feelings, imagination and biases to one side – to detach themselves from their subject matter - and rationally collect the facts. Much postmodern theory might be summarised as problematising this idea of ‘detachment’. Rather than being detached and rational Cartesian egos, we are subjectified by, and the product of, innumerable epistemological, economic, or cultural structures, theoretical trends, personal sentiments, unquantifiable feelings, and irrational choices. What does the imagination bring to the factual? I take a look through the work of Hayden White, Alun Munslow, and Beverly Southgate, before arguing that the romantic historians – Michelet, Thierry, Carlyle - had a much better understanding of the reality of the historian s craft than the scientifically minded did. Then & Now is FAN-FUNDED! Support me on Patreon and pledge as little as $1 per video: http://patreon.com/user?u=3517018 Or send me a one-off tip of any amount and help me make more videos: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=JJ76W4CZ2A8J2 Buy on Amazon through this link to support the channel: https://amzn.to/2ykJe6L Follow me on: Facebook: http://fb.me/thethenandnow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thethenandnow/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lewlewwaller Sources: Beverley Southgate, History meets Fiction Hayden White, Metahistory Alun Munslow, History and Narrative Ceri Crossley, French Historians and Romanticism Miljana Cunta, “The Romantic Subject as an Absolutely Autonomous Individual”, Acta Neophilologica, 37, 1-2 (2004) Wolf Lepenies, Between Literature and Science J. Michelet, History of the French Revolution