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Philosophers on Historical Evidence
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Karl Marx
Regarded historical materialism as the framework for understanding historical evidence; focused on social and economic factors.
Thucydides
Aimed for accuracy and impartiality in reporting historical events, relying on direct observation and accounts of eyewitnesses.
Aristotle
Believed in empirical evidence and observation as the basis of knowledge.
Michel Foucault
Analyzed the role of power in shaping historical narratives; was less concerned with traditional notions of evidence.
R.G. Collingwood
Argued that historical evidence must be understood in context, and that historians should reconstruct the thoughts and experiences of historical figures.
Jules Michelet
Emphasized the importance of bringing historical characters to life using evidence; history as a resurrection of the past.
E.H. Carr
Believed history is constructed from the historian’s perspective and that facts are inseparable from the historian's values and agenda.
Voltaire
Criticized the religious interpretation of history; emphasized the use of reason and evidence.
Paul Veyne
Viewed history as a narrative or representation of the past, acknowledging the role of interpretation over mere collection of evidence.
Thomas Kuhn
Although not purely a historian, he proposed that the history of science is marked by paradigm shifts rather than a linear accumulation of evidence.
Leopold von Ranke
Emphasized the importance of primary sources for accurate historical accounts.
Marc Bloch
Co-founder of the Annales School, which emphasized total history and the integration of evidence from various disciplines.
Herodotus
Often considered the 'Father of History', he collected information from various sources, emphasizing the inquiry aspect of history.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Saw history as a dialectical process; less focused on empirical evidence, more on the unfolding of the World Spirit.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Questioned objective history and the motives behind historians' selection of evidence.
Fernand Braudel
Stressed the study of long-term historical structures using varied types of evidence, rather than just political events.
Joan Wallach Scott
Believes that historical evidence should be examined through the lens of gender as a primary factor of social organization.
Peter Novick
Argued that objectivity in history is neither possible nor desirable; historians’ selection of evidence is influenced by their societal context.
Ibn Khaldun
One of the early thinkers to emphasize a scientific approach to history and sociology, underscoring the importance of societal evidence in historical narratives.
Hannah Arendt
Her works on totalitarianism show the intricacies of historical events and the importance of understanding the context of actions and decisions made.
Stephen Toulmin
His model of argumentation suggests that conclusions are based on evidence, which fits into a broader view of assessing historical claims.
Hayden White
Suggested that the content of history is as much determined by the nature of the evidence as by the historian's narrative approach.
Simone de Beauvoir
While not a historian, her existentialist philosophy implies the need to understand actions and events within the broader context of human freedom and oppression.
Edward Hallett Carr
Insisted that history is an unending dialogue between the past and present and that evidence must be interpreted through this lens.
G.W.F. Hegel
Historical facts were seen as less important than philosophical interpretation to understand the progress of the World Spirit.
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