PSYC 305 Chapter 1: Chap 1- Critical Issues in Historical Studies
9 Feb 2017
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Some problems in historiography: historiography, definition: Characteristics of a body of historical writings (e. g. , contributions from women and cultural minorities). The development of historical consciousness: historical consciousness emerged over time, grows from the belief that important events carry real significance in the pursuit of religion, politics, or science, early historians: First to attempt a comprehensive history of the world with an emphasis on natural rather than supernatural causes. Documented the war between athens and sparta. What is history: history, the interpretive study of human past: An empirical component: historical data (e. g. , newspapers, eyewitness accounts, etc. An explanatory component: interpretation of data. Can history be objective: objectivity implies a correspondence between a historical narrative and the past events it describes, objectivity is a desirable ideal: The tyranny of the present: historicism, the historians" commitment to understand the past for its own sake: To avoid present biases: presentism, the difficulty in dividing historical facts from current perspectives:
