What is -from a Greek word Laropia

which means Learning.

History? -a systematic account of a set of
natural phenomena, whether or
not chronological ordering was a
factor in the account; and that
usage, though rare, still prevails
in…the phrase natural history.
(Aristotle)
-is a Latin word scientia which
means science
 -needs objects like ruins, parchments
and coins (objectivity) survive from the
past otherwise the facts of history are
derived from testimony and therefore
Objectivity are facts of meaning.
and
Subjectivity -these maybe symbolic or representative
of something that once real
(subjectivity)
Artifacts as sources of
History

Relics of human happenings (objects)

-potsherd, a coin, a ruin, a manuscript, a book, a
portrait, a stamp, a piece of wreckage, a strand of
hair, or archeological/ anthropological remains
 -most humans left no records of any kind behind
Historical them as a result only small part of what
happened was observed.
Knowledge
limited by
Incompleteness of “… only part of what was observed in the past
by those who observed in the was remembered
the records was recorded, survived, has come to the
historian’s attention, is credible, grasped and can
be expounded”.
History as the subjective process of
Re-creation
Historian can not restore the total past of mankind. He has no way of doing it but in terms of his own
experience. That experience taught him to:
• -yesterday is different from today
• -his own experience is both like and unlike by others.

Therefore, historian’s aim is verisimilitude(rather than losing the whole , he tries to get as close as an
approximation to the truth)
 Historical Method- is the process of
critically examining and analyzing the
records and survivals of the past.
Historical
Method and Historiography( the writing of history)-is
the imaginative reconstruction of the past
from the data derived by that historical

Historiography method (the process).

These therefore helps historian

Defined reconstruct, re-create but not create the
past of mankind.
Imagination in
Historiography
Historian who knows contemporary life best
will understand past life best.
History of Historical Method

Thucydides(5th century B.C) wrote about the Peloponesian War.

He told readers how he gathered materials, test and separate truth Methods of historical analysis
from fiction
• -Selection of a subject for investigation
• -The collection of probable sources of information on that
subject
• -The examination of those sources for genuineness(either in
whole or in part)
• -The extraction of credible particulars from the sources(or parts
of sources) proved genuine.
 -that are not in books but largely on museums

SOURCES
-official records that are found in archives,
courthouses, governmental libraries, etc.

-private papers not available in official collections

but can be found out in business houses, muniments
of ancient castles, prized possessions of autograph
collectors, The record of parish churches, etc.
The distinction between Primary
and Secondary Sources

Primary Source- is the testimony of an

eyewitness, or of a witness by any other
of the senses, or of a mechanical device
like a Dictaphone- that is, of one who or
that which was present at the events of
which he or it tells(eyewitness)
Secondary Source-is the testimonies of
anyone who is not an eyewitness-that is
of one who was absent at the events of
which he tells.
Other Original
Sources
Documents are original when
-content is fresh and creative ideas
-not translated from the language in which it is first written
-because it is the earliest, unpolished stage
-the text is the approved text, unmodified and untampered
-the earliest available source of information
Historians are more concern on particular
data than the whole

Primary Particulars
Rather than Whole
Primary Sources
Sought
 -means docere, to teach

The Document - They signifies any process of

proof based upon any kind of
source whether written, oral,
pictorial or archaeological
The “Human” and
the “Personal”
Document
Human document is an account of individual
experience which reveals the individual’s action as
a human agent and as a participant in social life.
All documents are both human and personal
The Problem of Authenticity or
External Criticism
Forged or The
Test of Garbled
Misleading Restoration of
Authenticity Documents
Documents Texts

Sciences Identification
Auxiliary to of Author and
History of Date
Problem of Credibility, or Internal
Criticism

The Quest for Determination of

What is Historical The Interrogative Identification of The Personal
Particular Details Approximate General Rules
Fact? Hypothesis Author Equation
of Testimony Date

Heresy and Conditions

Certitude vs. Willingness to Ability to Tell the
Corroboration Secondary Favorable to
Certainty Tell the Truth Truth
Evidence Credibility
Thank you 