Areas of Knowledge

HISTORY

Who controls the past controls the future, Who controls the present controls the past George Orwell.

Anybody can make History. Only a great man can write it Oscar wilde

Lets try this

Consider that you wake up one morning you wake up and discover that you have lost your memory. After a few minutes of blind panic; you start examining the 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 your predicament; you give yourself an hour to work out who you are. Now think and tell me to what extent you would be able to reconstruct your identity by examining the objects in your room? What problems would you face trying to do this

How similar are they to those problems faced by Historians?

The thought of losing ones memory is scary not only because memories are precious in themselves, but because the sense of who you are and where you are going is bound up with you have done.

Answer these questions:

Why should you care about your past? What are the dangers of either being obsessed with your past or ignoring 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 from their mistakes, and to what extent do you think they keep making the same mistakes.

What is History?
The past as we know it from the interpretations of historians based on the critical study of the widest possible range of relevant sources, every effort having been made to challenge and avoid the perpetuation of myth.
Arthur Marwick The Nature of History

The philosopher of history is not merely concerned with recording the past but also with projecting his knowledge of the past into the future . . .. It is for this reason that the philosophy of history is itself a modern subject

Our Aims

Understand the distinction between history and historiography. Understand the nature of and problems posed by historical facts. Understand that, despite the problems, historical judgment are subject to the standard criteria of consistency & coherency .but history can at least reach close to the truth.

Understand the distinction between history and historiography.

In English the word History is used in two different senses; there is history as the series of all past events, and there is history as the academic inquiry carried out by historians. History in the second sense is how we know history in the first sense.we should not confuse the two. Historians some times used the word Historiography to refer to the study of writings of historians; while the term history by itself can 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 it may be extremely difficult to ever find out .

So history presents unique problems, but we shall also see that it shares some features with other forms of knowledge history is important in a very human sense our communities are shaped by their histories, & in many cases sadly history is bound and limited in terms of hatred & violence.

The Facts of History

The Belief in a hard core of historical facts existing objectively and independently of the historian is a preposterous fallacy, but one which it is very hard to Eradicate

E.H.CARR

If a historian attempts to find out about the past; then the first step is to surely find out as many facts as possible. Facts what might be truly objective and scientific in spirit. The historian first has to manage to establish hard core indisputable facts and on the basis of these, and only these to theorise.

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Lets imagine some historical facts Hong Kong was returned to China in 1997, The crusades began in the early 8th century to rescue the holy land from the Arabs. Caesar defeated the mighty Gaul's in 49 BC.

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But as Alfred Housman once very rightly said ACCURACY IS A DUTY, NOT A VIRTUE. As we look at an mathematician for getting more than just his arithmetic right, so we expect just more than the basic facts from the historians. This more than facts are not history itself, but the building blocks from which history is recreated. From this the historians hope to answer far more interesting & important questions such as; What effect did the reunification of Hong Kong & China have on fledgling political parties within China?

What were the actual intentions of the European powers fighting 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 from reams 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 of the 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: What were these buildings for? How were the societies formed? What were the people interested in and what were their belief? What were the dramas, hopes, loves and fears of these people?

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 of paper a year. This flow of information may be well beyond the grasp of any 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 & compelling statements of clarity & eloquence, while the other side is portrayed as feeble minded. It will not be a surprised if the other side reports it exactly the opposite.

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

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. { Make a chart of the above} Think of some part of recent information which is totally overwhelming. Explain how the historians will ever be able to sort through the information to arrive to the TRUTH about what really happened?

WHY STUDY HISTORY?

Though history does not seem to have any immediate practical 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 judgments about other countries, also helps us go beyond prejudices.
How important do you think it is for our political leaders to have good knowledge of History?

HISTORY IS A DEFENCE AGAINST PROPAGANDA History taught in school is an excellent way to develop national pride and dictate a one sided interpretation of the past. It highlights the countries achievements and overlooks mistakes. History can also at worst, be exploited by corrupt regime to legitimize its rule, justify territorial expansion and whitewash past crimes. e.g. one of the best know examples of abuse of history is from the Stalinist Erawhere is with an idea to liquidate political opponents would erase them from the historical record.

History enriches our understanding of human nature. As what have human being done through ages, in various communities and in various circumstances. We can look at history in both as optimist as well as a pessimists as human nature is an open question. But at times historical records can be a source of hope as it suggests that the future does not always have to be like the past.