The Underlying Emotional Background of Quaternary Palaeontology: Nostalgia and Ubi Sunt in a Postdictive Science

Identifier:  imarina:9372464

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9372464

Authors:  Hortolà P

Abstract:
This short essay aims to provide insight into the emotional background underlying Quaternary palaeontology and encourage scholars to thoroughly discuss the psychological determining factors behind its practice. The nostalgia for past times and the feeling of loss of a world that will never return are the emotional landmark of Quaternary palaeontology. Due to its taste for perished things and nostalgic turn into the past, Quaternary palaeontology participates in the bias of the pagan version of the Ubi sunt elegiac motif. While this work specifically concerns Quaternary palaeontology, it can probably serve as a guide to reveal the perceptions and motivations behind other sciences.