The Idea of American Exceptionalism: A Cultural and Social History

这个项目解决了当前关于美国例外论（美国历史发展被认为是在正常的历史道路之外）的争论，把这个话题不是作为一组实质性的经验命题来挑战，而是作为一种思想的文化和社会历史。它旨在展示例外论是如何演变的，一群子概念是如何相互加强的，以及它的吸引力及其宗教、经济和政治内容是如何随着时间的推移而变化的。本文分析了作为信仰和国家认同的例外论的历史条件。它绕过了神话和现实之间的困难二分法，以及支持和反对这一概念的充满敌意的政治争论。

This project addresses current debates over American Exceptionalism (United States historical development considered outside the normal path of history), treating the topic not as a set of substantive empirical propositions to be challenged, but as the cultural and social history of an idea. It aims to show how Exceptionalism evolved, how a cluster of sub-concepts mutually reinforced it and how its attractiveness and its religious, economic and political content changed over time. This approach analyses the historical conditions promoting (and challenging) Exceptionalism as belief and national identity. It bypasses difficult dichotomies between myth and reality and rancorous political arguments for and against the concept.