Lesson 1: Meaning of History

Presenter: Sir Roland Robles, Assistant Prof. 1

 Lesson 1: Meaning of
History

Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson, the

students will be able to:
• define history and trace its
development as a field of study;
• examine the issues surrounding
historical discipline; and
• evaluate the importance and
function of history.
Introduction

• The meaning and ascribed function to

history changed and developed from
one historical period to the next.
• Historical methods and historical
sources were used and employed
differently in each period.
• This lesson is a chapter on the history of
history.
 Guide questions (Part 1)

• What is the definition of history?

• Why did Herodotus write history?
• For Herodotus and Thucydides, what
are the only reliable historical sources?
• How did this consideration on the
reliability of sources affect the way
they wrote history?
Definition and Subject Matter
• History can refer to two
things:

• Everything that happened

in the past

• A kind of research or
inquiry
History is a discipline or a field of study
and investigation that is primarily
concerned with human activities done in
the past.

• History is concerned with human

activities and not the affairs of
deities, mythological creatures, or
fictive characters.
• History is an inquiry that falls within
the realm of the social sciences.
• History is concerned with the past. It
does not concern itself with the
present and with the future.
•History seeks to
answer the
question why?
• Historical discipline changed in terms of its nature, significance, and purpose through time.
• In ancient Greek civilization, history became concerned with human affairs and activities.
Herodotus, the Father of History, wrote history to describe the events of the past for posterity.
• Thucydides introduced a more “scientific” or systematic approach to historical writing. For him,
the only reliable historical sources were testimonies of people who were eyewitnesses to the
event being studied (cf. “History of the Peloponnesian War”).
Herodotus and
Thucydides
were thus
limited to the
study of a
small
geographical
space and of
the past within
the living
memory.
• As the Greek civilization
grew and expanded,
ancient Greek historians
started recognizing that
they could no longer just
rely on the testimonies of
living witnesses to history.
Thus, they started collecting
and compiling these
eyewitness testimonies,
enabling them to study the
remote past and places.
• The practice of keeping
voluminous written records
gave way to the primacy
given to written sources.
Issues & Questions
• The primacy of written
sources in historical study
privileged sectors who
were in the higher level of
the social ladder.
• Topics of historical study
were also limited to those
that were perceived to be
important enough to get
recorded.
 Key takeaways

HISTORY IS A DISCIPLINE OR A HERODOTUS, THE FATHER OF FOR HERODOTUS AND RELYING SOLELY ON
FIELD OF STUDY AND HISTORY, WROTE HISTORY TO THUCYDIDES, THE ONLY EYEWITNESS TESTIMONIES
INVESTIGATION THAT IS RECORD THE PAST DEEDS OF RELIABLE HISTORICAL LIMITED THEIR HISTORICAL
PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH MEN FOR POSTERITY OR FOR SOURCES ARE THE STUDY BOTH IN TERMS OF
HUMAN ACTIVITIES DONE IN FUTURE USE. TESTIMONIES OF PERIOD AND PLACE.
THE PAST. EYEWITNESSES TO THE PAST
EVENT BEING STUDIED.
 Guide questions (Part 2)

• How did the use of history

change from the ancient Greek
civilization to the Middle Ages?
• What is positivist history and
what are the criticisms against it?
• What is historicism?
• How is history as a discipline
affected by its present context?
• What are some of the uses of
history?
 POSITVISM

• By the 19th century, positivism

emerged. Positivism is a vital
anchor of the scientific
method that asserts that real
knowledge lies on actual
observation of facts.
• In history, positivism
manifested with the mantra
“no document, no history.”
•Positivist history further
privileged the use of written or
documentary sources,
consequently disenfranchising
marginalized sectors who are
not always represented in
written records.
•Historians recognized this
problem and started using
other kinds of historical sources
to include subjects and areas
that are not in written records.
These sources include oral
traditions, artifacts,
architecture, and memories.
 HISTORIOGRAPHY

• History grew as a complex

discipline, and scholars who
wanted to further inquire
about the nature and
character of history delved
into historiography.
• In simple terms, historiography is the history of history.

•In simple terms, historiography is the

history of history.
•Examples of historiographical
questions are:
•How was a specific historical text
written?
•Who wrote it?
•What was the context of its
publication?
•What was the particular historical
method employed?
•What were the sources used?
• The use and function of history
changed over time:
• Ancient Greeks: History was
written for posterity and to
enable humans to control
their destiny.
• Middle Ages: History was
written to understand and
expound on the divine plan.
Humans no longer need to
control their destiny because
God has already
predetermined it for them.
 HISTORISCISM

• As history developed into a

scientific discipline, historians
argued that history should not
have a purpose other than
studying it for its own sake. This
intellectual movement is called
historicism.
• Historicists like Leopold von Ranke
believed that assigning a purpose
to history makes its study biased.
For von Ranke, the task of the
historian is “merely to show how
things actually were.”
Historicism assumes that the
development of history and
historians who write it are totally
unaffected by their contexts. Such is
not true. The emergence of new
historical subdisciplines, like women’s
history, labor history, and
environmental history, is a response
to the need of the time. Italian
historian Benedetto Croce remarked,
“All history is contemporary history.”
• However, social relevance
and faithfulness to the past
are not incompatible with
one another. There are
several instances where
the past was distorted by
various political entities to
serve their agenda.
 Uses of History

History can provide people multiple ways to view, interpret, and

respond to current problems.

History can make us learn from past mistakes, and it can also
serve as a repository of good ideas from the past.

Finally, history helps us to acquire a sense of self-knowledge and

self-awareness.
 Key takeaways

FOR THE ANCIENT GREEKS, POSITIVIST HISTORY ENTAILS HISTORICISM IS THE BELIEF HISTORY ALSO HELPS US
HISTORY IS WRITTEN FOR THE USE OF DOCUMENTS OR THAT HISTORY SHOULD ONLY LEARN FROM PAST MISTAKES.
POSTERITY. IT OUGHT TO HELP WRITTEN SOURCES AS THE BE STUDIED FOR THE SAKE OF IT LIKEWISE SERVES AS A
HUMANS TO TAKE CONTROL ONLY LEGITIMATE HISTORICAL THE PAST AND SHOULD NOT REPOSITORY OF GOOD IDEAS.
OF THEIR DESTINY. IN THE SOURCES. CRITICS ARGUE HAVE ANY PURPOSE OTHER HISTORY ALLOWS US TO
MIDDLE AGES, HISTORY WAS THAT SUCH METHOD THAN FOR ITS OWN SAKE. ACQUIRE SELF-KNOWLEDGE
WRITTEN TO UNDERSTAND EXCLUDES SECTORS WHO ARE AND SELF-AWARENESS.
AND EXPLAIN THE DIVINE NOT ALWAYS REFLECTED IN
PLAN. WRITTEN RECORDS.
 Lesson 1: Meaning of History
Summary

• History is the study of human activities in the past. This

definition makes history a unique discipline.
• The meaning and characteristics of history changed from the
ancient period to the present. These changes were dependent
on the purposes that history served.
• History is a scientific discipline that relies on different sources.
• Several issues revolve around the meaning and function of
history as a discipline. These issues relate to different aspects
of the discipline, such as meaning, method, and use.