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Readings in Philippine History

This document discusses the definition and types of history as well as the limitations and methods of historical knowledge. It provides the following key points: 1. History refers to accounts of past events, especially human affairs, presented in chronological order. There are two types: factual history which presents basic information about what happened, when, where, and who was involved, and speculative history which goes beyond facts to explore why and how events happened. 2. The incompleteness of historical records limits our knowledge of history, as most human affairs left no evidence. Historians can only study and reconstruct the past based on surviving records and artifacts. 3. The study of history is subjective as historians must imaginatively recreate

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Zhel Carolino
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102 views2 pages

Readings in Philippine History

This document discusses the definition and types of history as well as the limitations and methods of historical knowledge. It provides the following key points: 1. History refers to accounts of past events, especially human affairs, presented in chronological order. There are two types: factual history which presents basic information about what happened, when, where, and who was involved, and speculative history which goes beyond facts to explore why and how events happened. 2. The incompleteness of historical records limits our knowledge of history, as most human affairs left no evidence. Historians can only study and reconstruct the past based on surviving records and artifacts. 3. The study of history is subjective as historians must imaginatively recreate

Uploaded by

Zhel Carolino
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Readings in Philippine History

What is History and Historiography

History - is derived from the Greek word Historia which means learning by inquiry
- The Greek Philosopher, Aristotle, looked upon history as the systematic
accounting
of a set of natural phenomena, that is, taking into consideration the chronological
arrangement of the account.
- The word History is referred usually for accounts of phenomena, especially human
affairs in chronological order.

2 Types of History
1. Factual History
- presents readers the plain and basic information vis-a-vis the events that took
place (what), the time and date with which the events happened (when), the place
with which the events took place and people that were involved (who)

2. Speculative History - goes beyond facts because it is concerned about the reason
for which events happened (why), and the way they happened (how). "It tries to
speculate on the cause and effectof an event."
(Cantal, Cardinal, Espino & Galindo. 2014)

Historiograohy - the practive of historical writing.


- The traditional method in doing historical research that focus on gathering of
documents from different libraries and archives to form a pool of evidence needed
in making a descriptive or analytical narrative.

The Limitation of Historical Knowledge


- The incompleteness of record has limited man's knowledge of history. Most human
affairs happen without leavung any evidence or records of any kind, no artifacts,
or
if there are, no further evidence of the human setting in which to place surviving

artifacts. Although it may have happened, but the past has perished forever with
only occasional traces. The whole history of the past (called history-as-actuality)
can be known to a historian only through the surviving records (history-as-record),
and most of history-as-record- is only a tiny part the whole phenomenon. Even the
archeological abd anthropological discoveries are only small parts discovered from
the total past.
- Historian study the records or evidences that survived that time. They tell
history
from what they understood a credible part of the record. However, their claims
remains variable as there can be historical records that could be discovered, which

may affirm on refute those that they have already presented. This explains the
"incompleteness" of the "object" that the historians study.

History as the Subjective Process of Re-Creation


- from the incomplete evidence, historians strive to restore the total part of
mankind. They do it from the point of view that human beings live in different
times and that their experiences maybe somehow comparable, or that their
experiences may have significantly differed contingent on the place and time. For
the historians, history becomes only that part of the human past which can be
meaningfully reconstructed from the available records and from inference regarding
their setting.
- In short, historian's aim is verisimilitude (the truth. authenticity,
plausibility)
about a past. Unliek teh study of the natural science, that has objectively
measurable phenomena, the study of history is subjective process as documents and
relics are scattered and do not together comprise the total object that the
historian
is studying. Some of the natural scientist, such as geologist and paleo-zoologist
who
study fossils from the traces of a perished past, pastly resemble historians in
this
regard, but they differ at certain points since historians deal with human
testimonies as well as physical traces.

Historical Method and Historiography


- The process of critically examining and anakyzing the records and survivals of
the past is called historical method. The imaginative reconstructrion of the past
form the data derived historiography. By means of historical and historiography
(both of which are frequently grouped together as simply as historical method), the
historian endeavors to reconstruct as much of the past mankind as he-she can. Even
in this limited effort. However, the historian handicapped. He/she rare;y can tell
the story even of a part of the past as it is occured. For the past conceived of as

something äctually occured" places obvious limits upon the kinds of record and of
imagination that the historians may use. These limits distinguish history from
fiction, poetry, drama, and fantasy.

Historical Analysis -
is also an important element of historical method. In historical analysis,
historians:
(1) select the subject to investigate;
(2 collect the probable sources of information on the subject;
(3) examine the sources of genuineness, in part of in whole; and
(4) extract credible "particulars" from the sources (or parts of sources).
The synthesis of the "particulars" thus derived is historiography. Synthesis and
analysis cannot be entirely seperated since they have a common ground, which is
the ability to understand the past through some meaningful, evocative, and
convincing historical or cross-disciplinary connections between a given historical
issue and other historical contexts, periods, or themes.

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