John Hospers (1918-) is well known for his own work on aesthetics, but we will be looking at what he has to say about the ideas of Croce and Collingwood. His account will serve us not only to highlight some features of Croce’s view but also to present issues that appear most clearly in Collingwood’s work.
Hospers’ paper has two parts. In section I, he outlines the Croce-Collingwood theory under 7 numbered points. Then in section II, he considers a series of “confusions in and misunderstandings of” their theory. This series also has 7 numbered points. Hospers does not say that the two series match point for point—and the match does not seem to be perfect—but the issues addressed at the beginning or end of one series tend to be those addressed in the same part of the other.
• Hospers focuses on the parts of Croce’s book that you have read, so most of the points in section I should sound familiar. Pay special attention to the last couple of points (i.e., 6 and 7), where Hospers draws more on Collingwood’s presentation of the theory.
• The earlier points in part II are concerned more with “misunderstandings of” the theory than “confusions in” it, so it may seem that Hospers is supporting the Croce-Collingwood theory. This attitude will change somewhat in his points 6 (pp. 300-305) and 7 (pp. 305-308), which together make up almost half the paper. Ask yourself whether Hospers’ criticisms at the end are legitimate—and that means asking not only whether you agree with Hospers’ position on the issues he raises but also whether he has correctly understood these aspects of the Croce-Collingwood theory. (Of course, I have not asked you to read the material in Collingwood that he refers to; but, although Collingwood formulates certain views more explicitly than Croce, there is much in what you’ve read of Croce that is relevant to these issues.)