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Fact, Truth, and Text: The Quest for a Firm Basis for Historical Knowledge Around 1900
Author(s) -
Torstendahl Rolf
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
history and theory
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.169
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1468-2303
pISSN - 0018-2656
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2303.00246
Subject(s) - object (grammar) , epistemology , common ground , task (project management) , history , sociology , philosophy , psychology , social psychology , linguistics , management , economics
The object of this essay is to discuss two problems and to present solutions to them, which do not quite agree with what is generally said of them. The first problem concerns the history of methods for reaching firm historical knowledge. In three methodological manuals for historians, written by J. G. Droysen, E. Bernheim, and C.‐V. Langlois and C. Seignobos and first published in the late nineteenth century, the task of the historian was said to be how to obtain firm knowledge about history. The question is how this message should be understood. The second problem concerns the differences between the three manuals. If their common goal is firm historical knowledge, are there any major differences of opinion? The answer given in this article is yes, and the ground is sought in their theories of truth.