I’ve created another show on Spotify called Grand Strategy: The View from Oregon, where I’ll post the spoken word production of my newsletters, and anything else I produce, so as to keep Today in Philosophy of History exclusively about philosophy of history.

I have some upcoming episodes that will be in a gray zone between philosophy of history and other concerns, and I’ll treat these on a case-by-case basis as to which show I’ll use to upload them. The description of this announcement includes a link to the new show.

https://open.spotify.com/show/298J25ozbG7HICUkBOMViJ?si=bW6U-BlgR-agPB6m6LGVUA

TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: How Schliemann Made Archaeology Scientific: A Just-So Story

Tuesday 06 January 2026 is the 204th anniversary of the birth of Johann Ludwig Heinrich Julius Schliemann (06 January 1822 – 26 December 1890), better known to posterity as Heinrich Schliemann, who was born in Neubukow, on the Baltic coast of Germany, on this date in 1822.

Schliemann has been called the Father of Archaeology even while he is reviled by many archaeologists because of his destructive methods in excavating Troy and Mycenae. Contemporary archaeologists go through the excavated remains that Schliemann’s diggers tossed aside, and still make discoveries in it. For all his faults, however, Schliemann marked the beginning of scientific archaeology.

Quora: https://philosophyofhistory.quora.com/

Discord: https://discord.gg/AHVsXpJFGG

Links: https://jnnielsen.carrd.co/

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dMh0_-/

#philosophy #history #PhilosophyofHistory #HeinrichSchliemann #archaeology #Troy #TrojanWar #CyclicalHistory #SpiralHistory #nomothetic #idiographic #WilhelmWindelband

TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Le Goff on the Perils of Periodization

Thursday 01 January 2026 is the 102nd anniversary of the birth of Jacques Le Goff (01 January 1924 – 01 April 2014), who was born in Toulon on this date in 1924.

Le Goff was a medievalist who was educated in the milieu of the Annales school and continued to develop many of the distinctive approaches of the school, although he renamed his own efforts “the new history” (“nouvelle histoire”), while others called it “total history.” Le Goff argued for a “long” Middle Ages extending up through the middle of the eighteenth century. I consider his case for a “long” Middle Ages in the context of his final book, Must We Divide History Into Periods?

Quora: https://philosophyofhistory.quora.com/

Discord: https://discord.gg/AHVsXpJFGG

Links: https://jnnielsen.carrd.co/

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dMh0_-/

#philosophy #history #PhilosophyofHistory #JacquesLeGoff #periodization #MiddleAges #medieval #LongNineteenthCentury #ShortTwentiethCentury #LongMiddleAges

TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: A Philosophy of History Manifesto

After two years of talking weekly about the philosophy of history, I am more convinced than ever that they way forward for philosophy of history is to adopt the philosophical naturalism of our time. In this way, philosophy of history can also be of our time, rather than serving the interests, often unwittingly, of Enlightenment progressivism or romantic idealism. The naturalistic philosophy of history I envision is of history founded on the metaphysics of time, which offers the possibility of a foundation that philosophy of history heretofore has lacked.

Quora: https://philosophyofhistory.quora.com/

Discord: https://discord.gg/AHVsXpJFGG

Links: https://jnnielsen.carrd.co/

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dMh0_-/

#philosophy #history #PhilosophyofHistory #manifesto #naturalism #time #PhilosophyofTime #modernity

N E W S L E T T E R 3 7 3: ASI Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born

Friday 26 December 2025

Grand Strategy Newsletter

The View from Oregon – 373

ASI Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born

https://mailchi.mp/35b5b0948371/the-view-from-oregon-373

Links toreferences:

AI2027: https://ai-2027.com/
AI Futures Project: https://ai-futures.org/

Newsletter 356: https://mailchi.mp/1b22042bb877/the-view-from-oregon-356

Bostromon the maxipok rule: https://existential-risk.com/concept.pdf

Callingfor a ban on ASI research: https://superintelligence-statement.org/
BIPM: https://www.bipm.org/en/

Halfhour explanatory video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KVDDfAkRgc

ICS: https://stratigraphy.org/

Newletter 370: https://mailchi.mp/a40fab3210d4/the-view-from-oregon-370

Harrison marine chronometers: https://www.rmg.co.uk/royal-observatory/attractions/john-harrisons-marine-timekeepers

TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Jessie Weston and the Cambridge Ritualists

Sunday 28 December 2025 is the 175th anniversary of the birth of Jessie Laidlay Weston (28 December 1850 – 29 September 1928), who was born in Surrey on this date in 1850.

Jessie Weston published From Ritual to Romance in 1920. She built on a tradition of early scholarship in folklore, mythography, and comparative religion that included the work of Sir James Frazer, Jane Ellen Harrison, and the Cambridge Ritualists. The particular claims made by this tradition aren’t defended today, but the can of worms they opened up is with us still.

Quora: https://philosophyofhistory.quora.com/

Discord: https://discord.gg/AHVsXpJFGG

Links: https://jnnielsen.carrd.co/

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dMh0_-/

#philosophy #history #PhilosophyofHistory #JessieWeston #JamesFrazer #JaneEllenHarrison #TheGoldenBough #CambridgeRitualists #BlankSlate #Folkore #mythography

TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: The Earthrise and Blue Marble Photographs

On Tuesday, 24 December 1968—57 years ago today—while orbiting the moon, the astronauts of Apollo 8 took a photograph of Earth rising above the surface of the moon. Earlier this month was the 53rd anniversary of the famous Blue Marble photograph, taken on 07 December 1972, four years after the Earthrise photograph. These two photographs changed how we saw Earth, and therefore changed how we saw ourselves and our relation to the Earth.

Quora: https://philosophyofhistory.quora.com/

Discord: https://discord.gg/AHVsXpJFGG

Links: https://jnnielsen.carrd.co/

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dMh0_-/

#philosophy #history #PhilosophyofHistory #Earthrise #BlueMarble #SpaceExploration #environmentalism #ExistentialPositionality #MetaphysicalOrienteering #OverviewEffect

TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: The Alexander Counterfactual

Alexander the Great conquered an empire and then died young, ensuring that his legend would outlive the man, which it has. What if Alexander had lived? Would his empire have endured, or would it have proved as ephemeral as it did, regardless? If Alexander had taken his best Macedonian troops against the Romans would he have dominated the Mediterranean Basin and left a Greek empire to history, or would Rome have made short work of him? Ancient historians asked themselves these counterfactuals, and I discuss some of these speculative efforts.

Quora: https://philosophyofhistory.quora.com/

Discord: https://discord.gg/AHVsXpJFGG

Links: https://jnnielsen.carrd.co/

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/dMh0_-/

#philosophy #history #PhilosophyofHistory #AlexandertheGreat #counterfactual #empire #Greeks #Romans #Persians #LastPlans #WesternClause