Truth In History

Author : C. Behan McCullagh
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 344 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2002-11-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781134696253

Get Book

The Truth of History by C. Behan McCullagh Pdf

Modern relativism and postmodern thought in culture and language challenge the 'truth' of history. This book considers how all historians, confined by the concepts and forms of argument of their own cultures, can still discover truths about the past. The Truth of History presents a study of various historical explanations and interpretations and evaluates their success as accounts of the past. C. Behan McCullagh contests that the variety of historical interpretations and subjectivity does not exclude the possibility of their truth. Through an examination of the constraints of history, the author argues that although historical descriptions do not mirror the past they can correlate with it in a regular and definable way. Far from debating in the abstract and philosophical only, the author beds his argument in numerous illuminating concrete historical examples. The Truth of History explores a new position between the two extremes of believing that history perfectly represents the past and that history can tell us nothing true of the past.

Author : Oscar Handlin
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 437 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2018-04-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9781351301022

Get Book

Truth in History by Oscar Handlin Pdf

Like scholars in other fields, historians have long occupied themselves in self-justification. In a society which calibrates all measures by a single standard, the proof of scientific worth became relevance, which in turn was interpreted as a search not for truth but for political correctness. In a blistering professional critique of this tendency in academic scholarship, perhaps the first of its kind, Oscar Handlin offers an analysis that, if anything, has grown more pertinent over the past decade. In seventeen chapters, written with the brilliant assurance of a master craftsman, Handlin shows why the turn to partisanship and meaning has undermined the calling of historical research. As his new introduction makes clear, partisanship has taken the best and brightest from the field into different callings. Both widely heralded upon its initial appearance as well as attacked with vigor, Truth in History emanates from a half-century's experience of reading, writing, teaching, researching, and publishing in history and related disciplines. The passage of time has only confirmed the concerns of Handlin and the accuracy of his predictions for the field. This book will be valuable for sociologists, economists, political scientists, and historians. It is a must read for those who contemplate a life of scholarship in liberal arts.

Author : Julian Baggini
Publisher : Quercus Publishing
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2017-09-21
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781786488909

Get Book

A Short History of Truth by Julian Baggini Pdf

How did we find ourselves in a "post-truth" world of "alternative facts"? And can we get out of it? A Short History of Truth sets out to answer these questions by looking at the complex history of truth and falsehood. It identifies ten types of supposed truth and explains how easily each can become the midwife of falsehood. There is no species of truth that we can rely on unquestioningly, but that does not mean the truth can never be established. Attaining truth is an achievement we need to work for, and each chapter will end up with a truth we can have some confidence in. This history builds into a comprehensive and clear explanation of why truth is now so disputed by exploring 10 kinds of truth: 1. Eternal truths. 2. Authoritative truths. 3. Esoteric truths. 4. Reasoned truths. 5. Evidence-based truths. 6. Creative truths. 7. Relative truths. 8. Powerful truths 9. Moral truths. 10. Holistic truths. Baggini provides us with all we need to restore faith in the value and possibility of truth as a social enterprise. Truth-seekers need to be sceptical not cynical, autonomous not atomistic, provisional not dogmatic, open not empty, demanding not unreasonable.

Author : Joyce Appleby,Lynn Hunt,Margaret Jacob
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2011-02-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9780393078916

Get Book

Telling the Truth about History by Joyce Appleby,Lynn Hunt,Margaret Jacob Pdf

"A fascinating historiographical essay. . . . An unusually lucid and inclusive explication of what it ultimately at stake in the culture wars over the nature, goals, and efficacy of history as a discipline."—Booklist

Author : Marius Gudonis,Benjamin T. Jones
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2020-10-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000198225

Get Book

History in a Post-Truth World by Marius Gudonis,Benjamin T. Jones Pdf

History in a Post-Truth World: Theory and Praxis explores one of the most significant paradigm shifts in public discourse. A post-truth environment that appeals primarily to emotion, elevates personal belief, and devalues expert opinion has important implications far beyond Brexit or the election of Donald Trump, and has a profound impact on how history is produced and consumed. Post-truth history is not merely a synonym for lies. This book argues that indifference to historicity by both the purveyor and the recipient, contempt for expert opinion that contradicts it, and ideological motivation are its key characteristics. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this work explores some of the following questions: What exactly is post-truth history? Does it represent a new phenomenon? Does the historian have a special role to play in preserving public memory from ‘alternative facts’? Do academics more generally have an obligation to combat fake news and fake history both in universities and on social media? How has a ‘post-truth culture’ impacted professional and popular historical discourse? Looking at theoretical dimensions and case studies from around the world, this book explores the violent potential of post-truth history and calls on readers to resist.

Author : Hilary Putnam
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 244 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 1981-12-31
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0521297761

Get Book

Reason, Truth and History by Hilary Putnam Pdf

'This is a timely book, with penetrating discussion of issues very much in the forefront of the contemporary philosophy. Despite the prominence of negative arguments it contains much to contribute positively to our understanding of what is needed for a conception of rationality and objectivity that covers ethics and value theory generally as well as physics.'

Author : Steven Shapin
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 516 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 1995-11-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9780226750194

Get Book

A Social History of Truth by Steven Shapin Pdf

A Social History of Truth is a bold theoretical and historical exploration of the social conditions that make knowledge possible in any period and in any endeavor.

Author : Russell Miller
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 319 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : Curiosities and wonders
ISBN : 0276427513

Get Book

The Truth about History by Russell Miller Pdf

This volume offers the reader information on scientific discoveries from early man to World War II, offering a view of world events.

Author : Lisa Hau,Ian Ruffell
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2016-11-03
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317558040

Get Book

Truth and History in the Ancient World by Lisa Hau,Ian Ruffell Pdf

This collection of essays investigates histories in the ancient world and the extent to which the producers and consumers of those histories believed them to be true. Ancient Greek historiographers repeatedly stressed the importance of truth to history; yet they also purported to believe in myth, distorted facts for nationalistic or moralizing purposes, and omitted events that modern audiences might consider crucial to a truthful account of the past. Truth and History in the Ancient World explores a pluralistic concept of truth – one in which different versions of the same historical event can all be true – or different kinds of truths and modes of belief are contingent on culture. Beginning with comparisons between historiography and aspects of belief in Greek tragedy, chapters include discussions of historiography through the works of Herodotus, Xenophon, and Ktesias, as well as Hellenistic and later historiography, material culture in Vitruvius, and Lucian’s satire. Rather than investigate whether historiography incorporates elements of poetic, rhetorical, or narrative techniques to shape historical accounts, or whether cultural memory is flexible or manipulated, this volume examines pluralities of truth and belief within the ancient world – and consequences for our understanding of culture, ancient or otherwise.

Author : Paul Ricœur
Publisher : Northwestern University Press
Page : 362 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 1965
Category : History
ISBN : 0810105985

Get Book

History and Truth by Paul Ricœur Pdf

Incredible originality of thought in areas as vast as phenomenology, religion, hermeneutics, psychoanalysis, intersubjectivity, language, Marxism, and structuralism has made Paul Ricoeur one of the philosophical giants of the twentieth century. The way in which Ricoeur approaches these themes makes his works relevant to the reader today: he writes with honesty and depth of insight into the core of a problem, and his ability to mark for future thought the very path of philosophical inquiry is nearly unmatched. In History and Truth, Ricoeur investigates the antinomy between history and truth, or between historicity and meaning. He argues that history has meaning insofar as it approaches universality and system but no meaning insofar as this universality violates the singularity of individuals' lives. Imposing unity upon truth, or unifying the diversity of knowledge and opinion, creates a singular and universal history but destroys historicity and subjectivity. Allowing for singularities in history promotes a multiplicity of truths over a single, unique truth and thereby annihilates system. This volume and the other new editions of Ricoeur's texts published by Northwestern University Press have joined the canon of contemporary continental philosophy and continue to contribute to emergent discussions in the twenty-first century. Book jacket.

Author : Tom Phillips
Publisher : Wildfire
Page : 290 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 2020-08-20
Category : History
ISBN : 1472263200

Get Book

Truth by Tom Phillips Pdf

Author : Howard Zinn
Publisher : The New Press
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2019-09-03
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781620975183

Get Book

Truth Has a Power of Its Own by Howard Zinn Pdf

American history told from the bottom up by Howard Zinn himself—and the perfect all-ages introduction to his eye-opening viewpoint, published on Zinn’s hundredth birthday Truth Has a Power of Its Own is an engrossing collection of conversations with the late Howard Zinn and “an eloquently hopeful introduction for those who haven’t yet encountered Zinn’s work” (Booklist). Here is an unvarnished, yet ultimately optimistic, tour of American history—told by someone who was often an active participant in it. Viewed through the lens of Zinn’s own life as a soldier, historian, and activist and using his paradigm-shifting A People’s History of the United States as a point of departure, these conversations explore the American Revolution, the Civil War, the labor battles of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, U.S. imperialism from the Indian Wars to the War on Terrorism, World Wars I and II, the Cold War, and the fight for equality and immigrant rights—all from an unapologetically radical standpoint. Longtime admirers and a new generation of readers alike will be fascinated to learn about Zinn’s thought processes, rationale, motivations, and approach to his now-iconic historical work. Zinn’s humane (and often humorous) voice—along with his keen moral vision—shine through every one of these lively and thought-provoking conversations. Battles over the telling of our history still rage across the country, and there’s no better person to tell it than Howard Zinn.

Author : Matthew Fraser
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 459 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2020-03-27
Category : History
ISBN : 9781633886254

Get Book

In Truth by Matthew Fraser Pdf

From ancient Rome to the current Internet age, this sweeping history of ideas explores how different epochs wrestled with the issue of truth and lies.From the ancient Greeks and Romans to the modern era, how have people determined what is true? How have those with power and influence sought to control the narrative? Are we living in a post-truth era, or is that notion simply the latest attempt to control the narrative? The relationship between truth and power is the key theme.Moving through major historical periods, the author focuses on notable people and events, from well-known leaders like Julius Caesar and Adolf Hitler to lesser-known individuals like Procopius and Savonarola. He notes distinct parallels in history to current events. Julius Caesar's publication of his Gallic Wars and Civil Wars was an early exercise in political spin not unlike what we see today. During the English Civil War and the Enlightenment, pamphleteering coupled with the new power of the printing press challenged the status quo, as online and social media does in our time. And "fake news" was already being used by German chancellor Otto von Bismarck in nineteenth-century Europe and by the "yellow journalism" of American newspaper magnates William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer near the turn of the twentieth century.The author concludes optimistically, noting that we are debating and discussing truth more fiercely today than in any previous era. The determination to arrive at the truth, despite the manipulations of the powerful, bodes well for the future of democracy.

Author : John Arnold,John H. (Professor of History Arnold, School of History Classics and Archaeology Professor of History School of History Classics and Archaeology Birkbeck University of London),Professor John H Arnold
Publisher : Oxford Paperbacks
Page : 152 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2000-02-24
Category : History
ISBN : 9780192853523

Get Book

History: A Very Short Introduction by John Arnold,John H. (Professor of History Arnold, School of History Classics and Archaeology Professor of History School of History Classics and Archaeology Birkbeck University of London),Professor John H Arnold Pdf

Starting with an examination of how historians work, this "Very Short Introduction" aims to explore history in a general, pithy, and accessible manner, rather than to delve into specific periods.

Author : Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Publisher : Univ. of Manitoba Press
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2015-12-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780887555381

Get Book

A Knock on the Door by Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Pdf

“It can start with a knock on the door one morning. It is the local Indian agent, or the parish priest, or, perhaps, a Mounted Police officer.” So began the school experience of many Indigenous children in Canada for more than a hundred years, and so begins the history of residential schools prepared by the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC). Between 2008 and 2015, the TRC provided opportunities for individuals, families, and communities to share their experiences of residential schools and released several reports based on 7000 survivor statements and five million documents from government, churches, and schools, as well as a solid grounding in secondary sources. A Knock on the Door, published in collaboration with the National Research Centre for Truth & Reconciliation, gathers material from the several reports the TRC has produced to present the essential history and legacy of residential schools in a concise and accessible package that includes new materials to help inform and contextualize the journey to reconciliation that Canadians are now embarked upon. Survivor and former National Chief of the Assembly First Nations, Phil Fontaine, provides a Foreword, and an Afterword introduces the holdings and opportunities of the National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation, home to the archive of recordings, and documents collected by the TRC. As Aimée Craft writes in the Afterword, knowing the historical backdrop of residential schooling and its legacy is essential to the work of reconciliation. In the past, agents of the Canadian state knocked on the doors of Indigenous families to take the children to school. Now, the Survivors have shared their truths and knocked back. It is time for Canadians to open the door to mutual understanding, respect, and reconciliation.