HISTORY, RHETORIC, and PROOF Carlo GinzburgContents | Pareword by Yosef Keplon « Ackaowiedgments a | tnuodueton 1 | Aristo and History, Once More s | Lorenzo Valls on he “Danatoa of Constantine” 4 AleaVoices The Dialog Hemeat in Early Modem | peuietisericgrphy ” 44 Reflections on Hank o Indexof Names meIntroduction ory, thetorc, pron in thispeguence, the least obvi ‘us term today ste lat, The widely accepted contig ty between hstary and herr has pushed aside dhe one Between isory and prot. The ida that histoans should or ean roe anything sems an aniguated dea to many, not down righ dicalons. But even people who fel qualms over the dom ‘antintlleersal mate almost always consider inevitale tat ‘toric and proof shouldexclade one anther Instead want to ‘demonstrat tha (nthe past, prot was considered an ine arf thetoric, and eit once obvi fact now fonrtten lesan image of the woeking methods of historians inclodingour foatempoares, hat is much mare realcand complex han the one fstonable ody. 1 ‘The skepical theses bane on the redupon of Rstoniogaphy to Jtsaaive or shetorial dimension hae beea i relation fort few decades even thei Tots, st esha ee, ae more aciene. In general the dheoreticians of Mstoringaphy who propose ther care ite forthe eocrete wok of seorans. Bat even historians, ‘sie from some token homage os “aise tur" o “thetor fal eum” currently in rogue ar scecly inclined to elect onthe ‘eoretial implications of eis own profeson,Razely has the ‘harm between methodological telecon and acta! ston: taaphial pracice been as pronounced a the ae ew decaden Sem hut the only way tp overcome iit ake the halons of‘he skeptic seriously and attempt articulate the plat of view ‘of those who work in contact with docutnens, in the broader ‘eos ofthe tem. My action transfers to the actuality of te ‘catch the ensons Between aration and documentation, des ‘ot propose zaprochement between thereicas sad histor ‘an and peat wil diapleas hem both "These subjects would seem at st to concern ony a small ci cle of eps stually involved in these bers historia lose ‘hers, stidents ofthe methodology f history. But thie deeep tive noton. As oe sal ae, the dacusion om history, theton, and poof touches oa a question tht concerns ut all: the coe tence and clash between cultures. To many of us ft eetn ght ‘that we should accept the existence of customs and value fer. tent irom our, to accept them always and in every form sems in tolerable to sme, Including vo me. We can adopt pagent pow tre deciding ease by case the alam vil and infbulaton oe ule diferent things. But even the Ilamic vei a we saw in France afew years apo and as we see day in Algeria wih ia ntely mote tie consequene rates quaieae of pnp that ‘annot be avoidel* Do we have the right o impor cu laws car ‘estos, and ou values on people fom other eta? Fora few centuries, European nations soak such aright for tpanted nthe midst of heir loll expansion cren if the ast ‘ation fori varied: (om ight and day, inked tos chilzation ‘hat deemed isl superior, to ue ight of the more power, ‘sully, combination of thore two notions Todey inn age a Which coexistence, often an uneasy one, between diferent eal ‘ures his sited tthe metropolis one hers rom ll sde hat ‘themorl and eognitive principle ofthe various cultures ate not ‘compatible. This aide, which in Uhoryaboold result in te limited tolerance, paradosically eiginte orm premises sat to those that ingpte the principle equating ight with ght, We ‘oul speak of shepeea lative in twa rerstony, one meck ts Intentions, even ot always in consequences andthe othe fete ‘ous. These positions, which are paisellyeo dean not act Sly pose have a common intelectual crign an idea a het, Sic thats not onl feeiga, but cally opposed, prot Tis an ea that goes back wo Nietsche es gene both distant and eat, ‘throws unexpected light om contemporny dicusons cone ning ‘elasona between dssniler culture Induction 3 Nietschefreyuendy spoke with admisation about Thucydides ‘on one occasion he alluded to the “tebe” dialogue between ‘Athniane and Melane* The testing fr the dalapue|i well ttnowe in the courve ofthe einoet dee decede long Pclpponne san War fought between Spr and Athens, and dee reapecuive sles, the inhabitant ofthe inland of Melo,» colony af Spars, bad ied at fie orerain neutral later, nthe face of overbearing mands by the Athenian, they sebelled, The Athenians © sponded with bloody repression n 426, Kling the me of Melos, ‘hd redcing the women and cleat slavery Poltaly and ‘ltl this wa an event flight significance, but Thucydides ecded to ge t great prominence: he precedes his brie! aosount ‘ofthe punishment meted ott the rebels of Melos with along di Slogue which occupies chapters 85 though 113 inthe th book ‘ffs work. To the Mellns who invoke arguments connecred ‘hecaue of justice, the Athenians oppor, implacable reasons ‘ofpower "ace you know as well we do tht when these mat ters are discussed by praca peopl, the standard of justice de ens on the equality of power t compel and that in fet the Strong do what they have the power to do and the weak accept ‘ha they have wo acene 89), “The Means assert tha they est in the protection ofthe gods whom they have aways honored and ofthe Spartans cb allies. ‘Noane wil pote them, the Athenians reply Everyone, men fod fd, mat ebrnit tothe natura acenaiy that unpela whoever fis power to exercise it everywhere and in whatever cicum stance ven the Athenians accep this necessity. "Thi not law that we mae carsives, or were we the fst to act upon It when It was made. We ound srealy in cxstence, and we shall Teste tt exit forever among thore wh some er (5.105) ‘And forth, Thucydides, a Dionsis of Hacanasous observed three cen ‘are later, was an exe in Thrace: e coulé nt have had dest or fen niet evidence of the dislogue between the Athenians and ‘he Melts. nthe opinion of Dionjas his dno explan im obbty ws tool emi beac the Aten‘mentioning justice. Thucydides wat thereby violating the very ‘era he had himself opted ost he sels of dscns in his work (ra). Donysis supposes that Thucydides was wating ‘moved by anger towards the cy that ad exiled hm. Another ob Serva, wo which Dronyiueretaas twice, enter instead, into the ear ofthe sescear of he Slog: whe te fro ale ter tthe speech of thes wha follow kes dramatic farm Lec look then at how the logue hepon. ‘The Athenian de clare tha the Means have requested shar the meeting not be held bese the assembly: "no doube in cae the man of the people should hear once and forall an without interupion sh agement from us which is both persuasive and incontrovertible, ad sould tobe ledastay” 585, Tehas ben supposed that chee words detribe the way he cl Toguy really eccuted, an interpretation that in my opinion, shouldbe rejected I Is more reasonable to suppose that they ‘fer a Key for reading what wil follow. The “uninteruped di ourse” based on argumentation tha the Melons denounces “petsuasve,” “incontoverdble'-atechnealterm—iy the die coure of rhetogintended to sek out popular consensus: Op posed is the dialogue Beind cloned oor, n which will o sible to discuss “without ae ell (y 80, without desi ‘roms about consensus, mates that normally should be hden ‘rom the majority" ‘Nietsche, whe admired Thucydides ax «master of sels ree of moralizingserupls, robbly tok fo grated tht agreed ‘with the Athenians? Someone taking a ee from Nitec as ‘maintained that Thucydides couldnt have alld to recogni: the Stperonty ofthe Athenian srgamen, seeing that the couse of ‘rents had indicated chem. Ths conclusion i debtale fortwo ‘easons. On the one hand srhas not ben demonstrated that Th ‘pies equated ight with success‘ On the tbe, athe ong ran, Sceess, awe know didnot al ver he Athens, Fis gs Up the long-contened question ofthe date of Thacpaes work ‘The threatening allusion mace by the Melians tothe possiblity thatthe Atbenians would be deleted in cheirtun|s 0] sper situate dhe composton ofthe calgus ab well perhaps ost of the work, alter dor: Thucyides would have hee eying to demon Strate erough an exemplary csc the apelin regan the Ind dassed Athens to ruin" Thucydides, 4 confitned ene of ‘Athenian democracy, probably even reed withthe polemic Sgsne herrea an ae intended 0 sedace "the mani" with Straceive and klacious arguments, which the Athens ae ‘uted othe oligarchic and palo Spartan Melians atthe beianng ofthe daogue’™ ‘The arguments the Athenian opted inthe discussion with the “Melan eal closely, as scholars ave often mentioned, those of Callies, one of the interoeator of the Cores, which Plato wrote shorly after 307. This resemblance has gentally bees Cinced to an exateraal ct, namely Callile” eae, which, however, have come down to's ony through the Gorgias © Tt ‘would be more pradent if we limited ourselves toa comparison ‘rewoen the ewo texts, the exchanges becween the Athenians and the Meas, and the blaoni dalogue We sll sex eh such 3 ‘necae wil take us back to Nietzsche, Tustashort way int the work, Socrates pleads wit the het sian Corgis continue "the disceson in the way we are Reving levghe now, aleratvey asking questions and answering therm, ‘ndto pat defor anothertime thi long style of specchmaking” Inwhichanocer interlocutor Polu, had expresed humsel, Here too; asin Thuydies, he long speeches ofthe shetriians must [Bre way tocontisedacoure, based on the one had, onthe alter ution of quertions and answers, and, on she oer, on cont Non" After ebseving that fo refute an Mes dos not signify Ianching« personal etack apsnst che perv who proposed it Soeates declares that hei ope who prefers tobe refuted rather than fo relue (48a) an elegant antcpation cf the provocative ‘hess proposed le later, which states that ti eter to afer Inputce than fo cominit ic Congas finite to scape thee ‘roisonsotherwig says Socaty, would be bewerto break off {he dscusion at once. Analogous, before undertaking his ds ‘sion with Plus, Socates warns: “take your ur inaskng ani ‘ng asked question the way Congas 20d did and subject me Yourself to reftation (4) ne rciving” ar 4638) comparable to other ore of "Alain,‘cha sophistry, cosmess, and cuisine 46h}. They are he ie {orted image of ste of eiltion, of pymnatiy sad of me ‘ine the fs wo, ar inked tothe solo thet polis} the Tas ewo, as inked to che body On the ane ofthis sifcatin, the mrctue of the Corpor appears wholly coherent ® The ares Aiscosted along the wayeeroi urtie, politics belong o 4 ‘ingle sphere that ofthe soul he fee beease ta dation of the second the tir Beesuse It estore genet at inluliog ‘both together wie egiston anit diazrted vein sopiaty Socrates asserts dt itis better oslfer nic than so cm mitt and Polos ends up agreeing with him, Calis inerupes indignatly, contrasting nataze and la and accusing Socrates ia ‘is argumens of slipping unduly from on tothe other: “fr by as ‘reall thats moc ei so more shameful, uch se eullerng ‘he unjust, whereas ing it by leis more shameful” Totolerate ‘wrongs = Bting not for men hit or slaves. Leis, who ae the weakest andthe most numero, make law thinking their self interest. Since they ae inferoy they ae happy enough tobe ‘aus Ths sarcastic quip demonstrates tht Calle Hes, de ‘pitehisefforsto ingrauate hima tall core with the Ania People os Soesterteprosches him}, are far fom being demo {ate "nature sel reveal that i at thing forthe Better ‘man and the more capable man to havea geste share than the in Ferioe man an the lens capable maa” (gh) “The introduction ofthe notion of sie in the realm of nature samnounces reasoning similar tthe Avhenians a ther daloge withthe Melians, Ths resemblance becomes even clover, a we Ive noted, where Callices overcomes the aditionalopposion between physi and names, “naire” and law” or coayenton'| to mert thatthe dominio af de stong over the weak i law {s soul the Athentane ad argued in their conontation ite the Nellans believe that these nen do these things tn accor dance withthe ature of what's just yes, by Zeus, in accordance ‘with he aw of ature, and presumably not with the ae we ia tate” (ase ‘Di Plato know the work of Thucydides! There has been uc siscssion ever his bypothesi tay consloing negatively. “According to 8 aumber af interpreter, even the convergence st ‘mendoned would demonstrate only tht bath Thyaides ond Plato were reacting oes hen cuenta Athens in cles inf ‘nced bythe sophiss2 Bot the statemene by Cale, tin serted in contest, soggsts duet elationship with Thucydiey Nea el evel tha i hig th beter man and te moe {Spal man tobeves geste tae tha th lr tan ote er x le man Ney skowe at hrs niga og ‘le anny ann le sand ner abe fa ii sik aie haben eid wet the ei re eer snd ise rsh hn Perv sorte era ‘te Ne cpg sant Craze, heater wen he peed {sin Soa! Counteanotar tach eames Cul be mene ines) 1s this itentionally paradoxical incouree meant to suggest ‘tht even the punishment of Melos, which by now had become tof ani Athenian propaganda, shouldbe included among there ‘Sounds ares!" Ths hypehess ie sengthened bythe sieady ‘goced words, which follow immediatly, on “the law of ature {Ethelaw ofthe strongest. "in scondane with hela of ate, nd presumably aot with the one we nei" Once apn those terms echo Thucydides: “This ls ages law that we mate our selves nor were we the Hist to ct upon i when was made We {oandit aca in exience and we shall leave exst forever mong those who come afer "(195 “The exwesion “to enact «ln ie quite anal Rut fa from anal at that time was the ea of using the ern “aw” in repa ‘onature: co Uh poin that both te Athenane snd Callits felt the ned to pea laws yea, but ot enacted by os" The Garlat ‘van wettens fen ean ster the conclusion ofthe Peloponnesian ‘Wir Along with Thuydides, nd inspeed by even mar exaliciy stidemoctatc sentiments Plato artempted fo comprehend bo the tragedy had occured At th enl fa sharp stack apsnat ‘Aubenian democracy, terning t Calices, Socrates exclaim: ‘You've made me deliver aly populatharangue”(si9d). Thee, ‘wor echoed In tone of esting challenge, Clie’ are” roach that he was "acting like str row lester” aac} Bt {he pay sear has a serious base it Is piloopes snd aot ‘hetoricns who know what politics means, “Telive that fone of afew Athenians,” Socrates exclaimed provocatively,“ ‘ot tosay Tm the only one, both ony one among our conte. oraen”20 take up the tie polit rate sind pace te sre police” ard}. Pat lad the blame forthe deteatof Athens on {% plictans and on Pericles in parca. The stuck apanat‘heeelcInunched inthe Gores oiinted inthis climte, and ‘witha iterantidemocatcconactaton ‘ie can imagine the erosions experenced by the young pill {ist Nictche hen he read the Gorgas or the Bist Sime“ Dom {nation ofthe strong over the weak dictated by law af ature to which individual, peoples, and states are sublet, moclicy end Iw as projections of ee interests of the weakling mri sb ‘mission to injustice branded a slave morality. Nietache wosld feflece on those themes bis ene if, seeing slave morality ‘hough Chrstanty, and pss nate trough Darwin. Nie Sche was revealed to himeel through Callies and yu Netache ‘ever named him, with the exception of fleeting allusion inh Basel lectures devoted o Plt, not intended for publication.» But In he famous paneage ofthe Zur Ganealoie der Moral (v1] 08 the “magnificent Monde Beast hunting for prey and victory” ‘Netasche rendered split homage to Callie, who had spoken of young ions eat society doesnot roeeedin ening ™ Calis’ hatghtiness smacked enaugh of distinction to predispose him 0 Nietasches ptt Boureois veneration” The eur wo and vision of Callie’ Mea wa a point of ar val for Newsche In his Sine boo, Die Geburt der Pago, he Ind ee de nec to polemicioe wth Socates madera State ‘behind whom lurked ee image of Rousseau the progenitor of the French Revolution and of soriakm™ A sort tme ater Nite sche, evaluating mht, pursed indirectly his polemic wth Sccrats thogph we ned to state at once that it was. very ie, éentuhetac from the one that ad been theorize [and npr pra ted) in the sphere f Athenian democracy. Rhetoric tobe used for this one purpose alway, of pointing tovharis juss” Socrates had sida the conclaon of the Gorgas ‘aye. In hetoris Niesache looked fran instrument that would Jet him reflect "on wuth and falsehood outside he context of no salty" Ueber Wahrheit and Lek aassrmorlischenSinel > ‘This was the ude of ie unfied stay, orgnating enon sbitos projeseanceived when he wae Bey thity sad ever ‘Concluded, which tone poine Nietzsche thought he would en er Phosop Betrecheungen aber den Karp ton Kunst und [ennins1873-73|" Tse pages, which were published posth- ‘mousy in 1903, open with «bi ible: ‘ics levee ivened eng Tae we ot droga 2 Tenacious mine of“ wacld toy” bt severe ra iy = ‘Sie After me ad awa eo sin, tard ene fle snd etdererbess had ose ‘Before the iumensity ofthe cosmos che periods of Human his tory and human pretensions pale ito lsigaieaceNictasche Soudues We cad conmocieae withthe melas we Would dacover thar even it considers Wel the etter ofthe dr. Dut mans pretension oHnow tah besides being ein [als isoy. rhas fe oom in dhe rely of language, Bat with word tis never a guestion of ity never «question fd quate expression others, there would nor be a0 any lt singe” Each word ably generalizes an absolutely specific Sersoraleapenencey every concept contains forgotten metaphor which has become unconscious Wha hea anh A notable hs of metaphor, etn athop. Marlins shor, tum o Buman rena wich ave en Pot Sy and steely Snwomea eee, sed embed aed ‘thc der long uses os esl ob ie capil and ad TE Tate we dunes whe we have rte a thy a [Eke cine wich have nt thie eboming sod se new cose “Tbe tush" Nietache continued, "means to erly the ‘ual metapors. Ths, eo express ie morally, hing he dat toe According ta fzed convention, oliealang withthe crowd ands ‘yl binding upon everyone [in einem fir se varindlichen Sule sagen)" “The tern “style” in hls conten, revealing. The ida vst cqully exelent aii eles cannot be compared with one a= ‘ther oes back atlas 0 Clore, Bt rough the fisenecton ‘with sch notons ae “taste” or vetization” det or ine ‘ecly ed othe encounter with nom Earopeza clare, his ie ‘ietssche developed the latent relativistic impliston of thenotion of "syle" o undermines tenacious anthropacente eh tice: fi is tue thatthe mosglto and the Bed peeve the ‘word diferently fom man, to ask which ating these ere. "Hons ofthe world r more cone i» senscless question, Beane it refets to nonenisten eters: "Between tr sbsolatly differ cent operes as between subject and objet, there lo casality, no correctness, and no expression, theres st most, an esthethe felasion® Mn fundamental impulse, to create metphors, Ends t proper culmination in myth and in asthe purpose of euleure isa domination ovr Me ae asuted in ancient Gresce ‘What then is rtht A movable host of ntaphor, metnymies, snchropomogphisms In short, a sum of man seatons which Ihave ben potclly and shetrieally ntesied, transfered, spd tmbelished, and which after long sag, seem tos people tobe fixed, canonical, and binding In the ast decades thse pres have summed up the sens of Nietsche's ae imespreation, a orlng co which he would have been the fst to eve eonfonted the philsophical challenge of araea! election on Ingunge"™ ut this paradoxical posehsrmos destiny hs ended up concing the comprehensive sgnifeance of the essy "Ueber Wabet uad Lie” fom which thee phrases were ake ‘he ideas that were tthe beat of thar unfnlshedpages—that language isitrinscally poetic, and that each word is xgialy a ‘wope—are taken from a book by Gustav Gerber [Die Sprache ait ‘ans, rr that Nitasche used repeatedly, often verbatim, it hisowa university leewrer on thetori But Nieteache pesented ‘hese ideas inthe framework of a cone phlosophigee:= The opening fable amos tems to be writen in the spine of Operete ‘oral by Leopard, a writer whom Nietzsche, that summer of 1573, seems to have had paticulay ia mind The discovery of ‘consciousness onthe pert of the human rae i inserted ins co ‘mic perspective, and hereby endeed ridiculous, Bictache' "in thebenning” rng like «parody of theft chapter of Genes ‘Ths interpretation i confizmed bythe oly pasa in which int book intended for publication Nits alaed to "Ueker Wah ‘hit nd Lage"Un the pele to the second volume of Mente Inuoduetion 13 licher,Allzamenschiches, he spoke of hi psting fom Schopen- ‘bauer philosophy, to which he had dedcsted the thir of the ‘Unzatgemdsse Betrachtungen. The change in ection he wrote, had teen anticipated in a plece “Rept secet” on wuth and false ood, waiten ule he wa nthe ip of «exis of oral kept ‘ism which had led hen "to ences sto go more eeeply into the por pessimism.” Because even then, Nietasche observe, ro longer believed “in anything” as people st, not even in Scho- Penhuuer™ The ionic allusion tothe popslace doesnot seem "ey appropiate toa skepucl election a an abetracty spel ‘ve character In the eye ofthe people, whoever “wo longer be lees in anything” hes separated from the vligion of hi fathers, snd no longer believes in God ors in th house fa pastor” Netache sid abou imal, one of his numerous autobiographical comments” The son of 2 stor, he pandsn (on toh is tather® and mother’ side) of Pot. {stant parr, Niche was Ssined to besome » pastor i his {arm Among his Boks was «copy ofthe Bible in Lather tana ‘on that had belonged wos father, who ded in 1849, when Fre ‘ch wa oly ive years ld. The volume i sill extant on he By Teal Pesich wrote is name and dete, "November 858° Head aly recently enllin the school at Morte There be tude He ‘ew ad the Old Testament, bot with an ee roward lial ph lel in comment from thet pci he noted that one could study the Tra nthe same way hat A. Wolfhedaproached the Homerie questo, stating various parts vatous authors. AE Bonn, where inthe ill of 186 he exolled inthe desloge fa ily imation o taking cousin chrch Mtor and lal ‘uci, Niecache tended the lesres by Konstantin Schl ‘ann onthe Gospel f Jha ® But ater «few month in January 1865, he decided to dedicate himself exclusively to phological Stull choie thet pained is mother and of which she dsp. proved At that ne Nietrche explained that eps nest a {edly eoncerned ezelsiely “the phlolopalsspct of Gospel ‘Stic andthe search fr Nev Testament soars” Bari ante ‘ion ofthis autobiographical releion, we ids more imate