Areas of Knowledge History

8/3/2019 Areas of Knowledge History

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Areas of Knowledge

HISTORY
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Who controls the past controls the future, Who controls the present controls the pastGeorge Orwell.

Anybody can make History. Only a great man can write itOscar wilde


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Lets try this

Consider that you wake up one morning you wake upand discover that you have lost your memory.

After a few minutes of blind panic; you start examiningthe room around you.

You see a not on your computer saying Meet Karan,

at lokhandwala near Macs at 11am.Now since you do not want anyone to know yourpredicament; you give yourself an hour to work outwho you are.

Now think and tell me to what extent you would be ableto reconstruct your identity by examining the objects inyour room?

What problems would you face trying to do this


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How similar are they to thoseproblems faced by Historians?


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The thought of losing ones memory is scary not onlybecause memories are precious in themselves, butbecause the sense of who you are and where you are

going is bound up with you have done.
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Answer these questions:

Why should you care about your past? What are thedangers of either being obsessed with your past orignoring it ?

How good is your memory and how good do you think

it is as a guide to the past?

To what extent do you think that people learn fromtheir mistakes, and to what extent do you think they

keep making the same mistakes.


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What is History?

The past as we know it from theinterpretations of historians based on the

critical study of the widest possible rangeof relevant sources, every effort havingbeen made to challenge and avoid theperpetuation of myth.

Arthur MarwickThe Nature of History


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The philosopher of history is notmerely concerned with recording thepast but also with projecting hisknowledge of the past into the future

. . .. It is for this reason that thephilosophy of history is itself amodern subject


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Our Aims

Understand the distinction between history andhistoriography.

Understand the nature of and problems posed byhistorical facts.

Understand that, despite the problems, historicaljudgment are subject to the standard criteria of

consistency & coherency .but history can atleast reach close to the truth.


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Understand the distinction between history andhistoriography.

In English the word History is used in two different senses; there ishistory as the series of all past events, and there is history as theacademic inquiry carried out by historians.

History in the second sense is how we know history in the firstsense.we should not confuse the two.

Historians some times used the word Historiography to refer tothe study of writings of historians; while the term history by itselfcan be used in either sense.

Many historians have problems with the past like what we

know about the past may be incomplete, inaccurate or even

completely wrong.this is simple because the past is gone and itmay be extremely difficult to ever find out .


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So history presents unique problems, but we shall alsosee that it shares some features with other forms ofknowledge history is important in a very human sense

our communities are shaped by their histories, & inmany cases sadly history is bound and limited in termsof hatred & violence.
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The Facts of History

The Belief in a hard core of historical facts

existing objectively and independently of thehistorian is a preposterous fallacy, but onewhich it is very hard to Eradicate

E.H.CARR


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If a historian attempts to find out about the past; thenthe first step is to surely find out as many facts aspossible.

Facts what might be truly objective and scientific inspirit.

The historian first has to manage to establish hard

core indisputable facts and on the basis of these, and

only these to theorise.

Lets imagine some historical facts

1. Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997,

2. The crusades began in the early 8th century to rescuethe holy land from the Arabs.

3. Caesar defeated the mighty Gaul's in 49 BC.


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But as Alfred Housman once very rightly saidACCURACY IS A DUTY, NOT A VIRTUE.

As we look at an mathematician for getting more thanjust his arithmetic right, so we expect just more thanthe basic facts from the historians.

This more than facts are not history itself, but thebuilding blocks from which history is recreated.

From this the historians hope to answer far moreinteresting & important questions such as;

1. What effect did the reunification of Hong Kong & Chinahave on fledgling political parties within China?
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What were the actual intentions of the European powersfighting the crusades..were they just Holy

Was the defeat of the Gauls an important step in

Caesars life?
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The historian is not always free to choose fromreams of information.

Just as the geologist know little about animals which

are too soft to leave an imprint in the fossil record,so there may be little for the historian to go on.

Historians in the central and south American ruins ofthe Mayans, Aztecs and Incas marvel at the wonders

of the architecture and beauty of the cities. But they also find it very frustrating because

of certain questions:

1. What were these buildings for?

2. How were the societies formed?3. What were the people interested in and what were

their belief?

4. What were the dramas, hopes, loves and fears of

these people?
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But in recent history, the opposite problem arises---there is far too much information.

e.g. it has been estimated that the administration of each

US president produced upward of five millions pieces ofpaper a year.

This flow of information may be well beyond the grasp ofany one individual.

But it is the job of an historian to provide structure and

to separate the trivial from the momentous. On the top of this is the enormous problem of source

reliability.

This is as the official records of diplomatic meetings often

portray one sides arguments as powerful & compellingstatements of clarity & eloquence, while the other side isportrayed as feeble minded.

It will not be a surprised if the other side reports itexactly the opposite.


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HISTORICAL FACTS ARE NEVER

PURE

Winston Churchill will agree as he said

History will be very kind to me for I

intend to write it


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Assignment (by 18th December)

What are the two meanings of the term history.Are there any other possible meanings?

Take a copy of a quality daily newspaper.Estimate the number of facts in it. Then

compare it with a two other newspapers. { Makea chart of the above}

Think of some part of recent information whichis totally overwhelming. Explain how thehistorians will ever be able to sort through theinformation to arrive to the TRUTH about whatreally happened?


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WHY STUDY HISTORY?

Though history does not seem to have any immediatepractical value and you wonder why we study it.

History gives us a sense of identity i.e. it explains to

us sense of your community, true sense of country. It is easy when you our nation history, to make

opinions about current affairs, to make judgmentsabout other countries, also helps us go beyondprejudices.

How important do you think it is for our politicalleaders to have good knowledge of History?


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HISTORY IS A DEFENCE AGAINST PROPAGANDA

History taught in school is an excellent way to developnational pride and dictate a one sided interpretation ofthe past.

It highlights the countries achievements and overlooks

mistakes.

History can also at worst, be exploited by corrupt regimeto legitimize its rule, justify territorial expansion andwhitewash past crimes.

e.g. one of the best know examples of abuse of history

is from the Stalinist Erawhere is with an idea toliquidate political opponents would erase them from

the historical record.
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History enriches our understanding of human nature.

As what have human being done through ages, invarious communities and in various circumstances.

We can look at history in both as optimist as well asa pessimists as human nature is an open question.

But at times historical records can be a source ofhope as it suggests that the future does not always

have to be like the past.

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