(Note: this article was split between three students. This blog covers the last third of the article or pages 336-340.) In “What are Historical Facts?” Carl L. Becker argues that complete historical objectivity is impossible, claiming that “the world of history is an intangible world, re-created imaginatively, and present in our minds.”[1] Specifically looking at …
Continue reading “Delanie Tarvin: A Look at “What are Historical Facts?””
Through examining the work of German historian Sir Richard Evans, Macat History Analysis explores whether it is possible to write a true account of the past. In 1997, Sir Richard Evans published the book In Defence of History in which he pushed back against the postmodernist idea that it is impossible to write an objective …
There is a very practiced and nuanced format to which persons are expected to adhere when conducting professional and credible historical work. The aforementioned form falls under the umbrella of historiographical processes. Of these processes, the unequivocal importance of objectivity stands as a cornerstone, a pillar of necessity that deems lesser all other tenants …
Continue reading ““And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””
The author (Mark Bevir) attempts to explain how historians can uncover an objective understanding of history. In doing so, he refutes others who suggest such objectivity is impossible to obtain or requires the elimination of human interpretation from the analysis of history. Bevir’s main argument is that an objective account of history can be obtained…