Eighteenth-century history treated the present as a trough of forgetfulness

Evidence

In the history and the historico-political field of the eighteenth century, the present was, basically, always the negative moment. It was always the trough of the wave, always a moment of apparent calm and forgetfulness. The present was the moment when, thanks to a whole series of displacements, betrayals, and modifications of the relationship of force, the primitive state of war had become, as it were, muddled and unrecognizable. Not just unrecognizable, but completely forgotten by those who should have been able to use it to their advantage. — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 242

Categorization

• XREF: This inversion of the present’s value anticipates Foucault’s archaeology of how historical discourse structures political consciousness — directly relevant to how ‘common sense’ and forgetting operate in the Islamophobia field. — connects to: Humanism created a consciousness of historical depth that earlier epochs lacked. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 286; A tired historical age generates philosophies focused on endurance rather than hope — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1057

Related

• In nineteenth-century discourse the present became the moment of universal truth (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• A tired historical age generates philosophies focused on endurance rather than hope #corroborates (0.80) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1057