History Principles Fall 2008
Scott Rausch
North Seattle Community College
Clay Butler on the dangers of absolute relativism (and the power of education?):
[Clay Butler, “You’re Standing on My Neck,” Sidewalk Bubblegum #150, 1997, at http://www.sidewalkbubblegum.com]
1. Human complexity
o Multiple human motivations
§ Very few people “only care about one thing”
o Simple things aren’t so simple – “greed,” “power,” “ common good”
§ All models are limited – rational actor; class struggle; security
o Agency –
§ The ability to think, make decisions, take action, and affect the world around you
§ Exists even in the most restrictive circumstances
o Cognitive Dissonance –
§ Thinking or believing contradictory things at the same time
2. Context is key.
o Contingency –
§ Events depend on multiple factors of that time and place
§ Change one factor and the result may be very different
§ Every time and place is unique to some degree
o Historicism –
§ EVERYTHING comes from a particular context
§ Nothing is sacred, eternal, or off-limits to historical investigation
o History does not repeat exactly.
§ The past is a foreign country
§ Comparisons are useful, not absolute
§ “Lessons of History” are conventional wisdom, NOT natural laws
o Cultural and social constructions
§ “Human nature” hard to locate
§ “Natural,” “normal,” with many varieties
§ “Eternal,” “constant” often change
§ “Traditional” constantly reinterpreted
§ Often “scientific fact” is “historical circumstance”
o Today is just “currently”
o Don’t use “we” or “us” for historical subjects, even for recent U.S. history
3. Causes and effects
o Multiple causation
o Causes – long-term, short-term, triggers, allowance, alternate possibilities
o Aggregate of – decisions, actions, plans, forces, mistakes, chance, etc.
o No simple determinism – “It’s all driven by _____.” Examples:
§ Cultural determinism
§ Economic determinism
§ Biological determinism
o No teleology – reading the end back into the story; effects cause the causes
§ No fate or destiny or “Advance of History” or Progress
o Unintended consequences
4. Relative objectivity
o Reality exists but very hard to find it completely
§ History finds “truth” but not “Truth”
§ Total re-creation impossible and unappealing
o Academic relativism – good
§ Comparisons are useful
§ Understand past people on their own terms
§ Often multiple valid ways to understand something
§ Result – useful conclusions
o Absolute relativism – ??? explosive
§ Everything depends on your point of view
§ Reality is just a construct of imagination, perception, etc.
§ There is no real truth or reality
§ Result – ??? the abyss stares back
o Absolute objectivity is impossible, relative objectivity is welcome.
§ Impossible to get around all preconceived notions
§ BUT, some methods come closer than others
§ Goal: be as objective as possible
o Good methods –
§ Primary source analysis
§ Using evidence, rational judgment, logic
§ Reproducible materials
§ Tentative, testable claims
§ Open mind looking for truth
o Bad methods –
§ Unreliable sources: dreams, revelation, hearsay, tradition
§ Ulterior goals, e.g., emotional effects – pride, outrage, reassurance, celebration
§ Unfair persuasion: irrational appeals, conscious lies
5. History is contested.
o No single voice called “History”
o “History” never judges, forgives, praises, or condemns
o History = facts + interpretation
o Hindsight is not 20/20
o History is not written only by the winners
o Each generation writes its own history
o Revisionism is good, bad, and other