R. G. Collingwood

R. G. Collingwood (1889-1943) was an eminent British philosopher and archaeologist.

Robin George Collingwood (February 22, 1889-January 9, 1943) was born in Cartmel Fell, Lancashire. He was a lecturer and professor at Oxford Univeristy between 1912 and 1941. He main subject matter was the history of Roman Britain and had become one of the world's leading authorities on the archaeology and history of Britain during Roman times.

As a philosopher of history he thought that there was a profound connection between history and philosophy, that both seek to uncover basic pre-suppositions of thought. His most important work in the philosophy of history was The Idea of History (1946). Here he argued that causal explanations form a basic part of the historian's task of describing the past and that philosophy should provide the justification of historical method.

Collingwood's entry in the Standford encyclopedia of philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2010/entries/collingwood