Historical events are caused by the activity of all the participants.
Summary:
The new history paradigm says that the movement of nations is caused by the activity of all the people who participate in historical events, and who always combine in such a way that those taking the largest direct share in the event take on themselves the least responsibility and vice versa.
Tolstoy arrives at this conclusion by first ruling out a number of misconceptions within the old view of history. Some of the other possible causes for history that he first rules out are (1) Divine intervention, (2) the influence of great men, (3) abstract concepts such as justice, (4) the free will of the participants, (5) chance, and (6) power. He explains how the old paradigm is wrong in thinking any of these are causing history. But in Chapter 7 of this epilogue, he tells us the new view of what causes history. It is, he says, by the activity of all the people who participate in the events. Understanding this, as he says elsewhere, will help us discover and describe the laws of history.
Although it’s far beyond the scope of War and Peace, it’s interesting to think about how modern technology, such as advances in data analysis, may empower historians to better view history through this new paradigm, and in ways Tolstoy could never have dreamed of.
quote from the chapter:
Arriving at this conclusion we can reply directly and positively to these two essential questions of history:
(1) What is power?
(2) What force produces the movement of the nations?
(1) Power is the relation of a given person to other individuals, in which the more this person expresses opinions, predictions, and justifications of the collective action that is performed, the less is his participation in that action.
(2) The movement of nations is caused not by power, nor by intellectual activity, nor even by a combination of the two as historians have supposed, but by the activity of all the people who participate in the events, and who always combine in such a way that those taking the largest direct share in the event take on themselves the least responsibility and vice versa.
Second Epilogue, key concept note 2
Historical events are caused by the activity of all the participants.
Summary:
The new history paradigm says that the movement of nations is caused by the activity of all the people who participate in historical events, and who always combine in such a way that those taking the largest direct share in the event take on themselves the least responsibility and vice versa.
Tolstoy arrives at this conclusion by first ruling out a number of misconceptions within the old view of history. Some of the other possible causes for history that he first rules out are (1) Divine intervention, (2) the influence of great men, (3) abstract concepts such as justice, (4) the free will of the participants, (5) chance, and (6) power. He explains how the old paradigm is wrong in thinking any of these are causing history. But in Chapter 7 of this epilogue, he tells us the new view of what causes history. It is, he says, by the activity of all the people who participate in the events. Understanding this, as he says elsewhere, will help us discover and describe the laws of history.
Although it’s far beyond the scope of War and Peace, it’s interesting to think about how modern technology, such as advances in data analysis, may empower historians to better view history through this new paradigm, and in ways Tolstoy could never have dreamed of.
quote from the chapter:
Arriving at this conclusion we can reply directly and positively to these two essential questions of history:
(1) What is power?
(2) What force produces the movement of the nations?
(1) Power is the relation of a given person to other individuals, in which the more this person expresses opinions, predictions, and justifications of the collective action that is performed, the less is his participation in that action.
(2) The movement of nations is caused not by power, nor by intellectual activity, nor even by a combination of the two as historians have supposed, but by the activity of all the people who participate in the events, and who always combine in such a way that those taking the largest direct share in the event take on themselves the least responsibility and vice versa.
Click here to read full text of Chapter 7 of this epilogue.
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