Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Our Knowledge of the Past
- Introduction: The Philosophy of Historiography
- 1 Consensus and Historiographic Knowledge
- 2 The History of Knowledge of History
- 3 The Theory of Scientific Historiography
- 4 Historiographic Opinion
- 5 Historiographic Explanation
- 6 The Limits of Historiographic Knowledge
- 7 Conclusion: Historiography and History
- References
- Notes
- Index
Introduction: The Philosophy of Historiography
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Our Knowledge of the Past
- Introduction: The Philosophy of Historiography
- 1 Consensus and Historiographic Knowledge
- 2 The History of Knowledge of History
- 3 The Theory of Scientific Historiography
- 4 Historiographic Opinion
- 5 Historiographic Explanation
- 6 The Limits of Historiographic Knowledge
- 7 Conclusion: Historiography and History
- References
- Notes
- Index
Summary
This book studies our knowledge of history, its nature, historical development, epistemic limits, and scope. In ordinary language “history” is ambiguous. It may mean past events or the study of past events (Dray, 1993, p. 1). In its original Greek historie is etymologically related to the verb “to see” and consequently to inquiry and knowledge. In other languages, “history” means a story (Le Goff, 1992, pp. 101–3). Arthur Marwick (1993, p. 6) distinguished five different uses of “history.” In addition to past events and the activity of research into past events, Marwick added the interpretations that result from research, the accumulated knowledge of the past, based on those interpretations, and what is considered significant of the accumulated knowledge of the past.
Ordinary language aside, in this book I use a terminology designed to fit its epistemic focus: By history I mean past events. Historiography is composed of representations of past events, usually texts, but other media such as movies or sound recordings may also represent past events. Historians like Ranke or Mommsen wrote about history, they produced historiography. Historiographers like Momigliano and Iggers wrote about historiography, about the works of historians like Thu-cydides and Ranke. Scientific historiography, the main topic of this book, is historiography that generates probable knowledge of the past. Historiographic interpretation is the final historiographic product that is ready for popular consumption in the form of textbooks and “the history of” popular books.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Our Knowledge of the PastA Philosophy of Historiography, pp. 1 - 22Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004