Background
Southard, Robert Fairbairn was born on July 27, 1945 in Baltimore. Son of Paul John and Helen (Fairbairn) Southard.
(The Prussian School of History first predicted and advoca...)
The Prussian School of History first predicted and advocated, then celebrated and defended, the unification of Germany by Prussia. Experts in German historiography and the history of German liberalism have often complained about the lack of a book, in any language, that traces the origins and explains the ideas of this school of history. Here is that book. Robert Southard finds that, for the Prussian School, history had an agenda. These historians generally expected history to complete its main tasks in their own time and country. The outcome of their politics was, really, an "end of history"―not a cessation to historical occurrences, but a cessation of onward historical movement because the historical process had already achieved its long-term, beneficent purposes. Leading us through the intricacies of important but untranslated works of J. G. Droysen, Max Duncker, Rudolph Hayn, and Heinrich von Sybel, Southard demonstrates their belief that the historical sequence was a continual unfolding of God's plan. Indispensable for those interested in the history of German historical writing, this book also has major implications for understanding the history of political liberalism.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0813118840/?tag=2022091-20
Southard, Robert Fairbairn was born on July 27, 1945 in Baltimore. Son of Paul John and Helen (Fairbairn) Southard.
Bachelor, Columbia College, 1966. Doctor of Philosophy, University Chicago, 1974. Postgraduate, Hebrew Union College, 1995.
Assistant professor Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana, 1971-1977, associate professor, 1977-1981, professor, from 1981.
(The Prussian School of History first predicted and advoca...)
Member Union County Library. Board, Liberty, Indiana, 1993. Vice-chairman censorship committee ICLU, Indianapolis, since 1996.
Member American Association of University Professors (chapter president), Association for Jewish Studies, Midwest Jewish Studies Association.
Married Edna Carter; children: David C., Jared P.