READING IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY

(MIDTERM REVIEWER)

Definition of History

Background

In this part of the course, students are able demonstrate a solid grasp of essential historical
concepts, events and developments. They also develop an appreciation for the importance of history
as a discipline and its relevance to understanding the past and shaping the present.

History Defined

 History lacks a single, universally accepted definition.

 Various definitions exist, and some share similarities with other disciplines. While it is often
said that history is the study of the past, this definition is considered insufficient.

Collection of different descriptions of history

HISTORY

 the study of the past – specifically, the people, societies, events and problems of
the past – and our attempts to understand them.
 can be a tremendous story, a rolling narrative filled with great personalities and
tales of turmoil and triumph. Each passing generation adds its own chapters to our
history while reinterpreting and finding new things in those chapters already
written.
 gives us a sense of identity. By understanding where we have come from, we can
better understand who we are.
 provides a sense of context for our lives and our existence. It helps us to
understand the way things are and ways that we might approach the future.
 teaches us what it means to be human, highlighting the great achievements and
disastrous errors of the human race.
 also teaches us through example. It offers hints about how we can organize and
manage our societies for the benefit and betterment of all those who live in them.
 is a chronological storytelling in its finest form; it sequentially weaves together
many related historical and contemporary events and ideas that are linked to a
larger story.

The Meaning of History by Louis Gottschalk

 The word “history” is etymologically derived from the Greek ἱστоρία (estoria), historia,
meaning learning, inquiry, knowledge acquired through investigation.
 HISTORY has been defined as the study of the pas of mankind in written form.
 Louis Gottschalk remarks that history cannot be reconstructed using this meaning. The past
of mankind for the most part is beyond recall. In life there must be events, persons, words,
thoughts, places that made no impression at the time they occurred or have been forgotten.
 Most of the past we have no further evidence or not even have the artifacts.
 Historian is handicapped in providing full historical knowledge, even a part of the past “as it
actually occurred” because of certain limitations like the inability of the human mind to
recollect everything, inadequacy of the human imagination and human speech, and the
incompleteness of records.
 Gottschalk opines “Only a small part of what happened in the past was ever recorded.”
  The whole history of the past (history-as-actuality) can be known only through the surviving
record of it (history-as-record), and most of history-as-record is only the surviving part of the
recorded part of the remembered part of the observed part of that whole.
 History can be told only from history-as-record, and history as told is only the historians’
expressed part of the understood part of the credible part of the discovered part of history-as-
record.
 History is the subjective process of re-creation.
 the historian’s aim is verisimilitude – a subjective process – trying to get as close an
approximation to the truth about the past as constant correction of his mental images will
allow, at the same time recognizing that the truth has in fact eluded him.
 History has only detached and scattered objects to study that do not make up the total
object. That object exists only in as far as his always incomplete and frequently changing
understating of it can re-create it.
 History becomes only that part of the human past which can be meaningfully reconstructed
from the available records and from inferences regarding their setting.

History and the past

Jennifer Llewellyn and Steve Thompson

 Those new to history often confuse it with the past, but there's a subtle difference.
 The past refers to an earlier time, its people, societies, and events. History, however, is our
ongoing attempt to investigate, study, and explain the past.
 Unlike the fixed nature of the past, history is constantly changing, being an ongoing
conversation about its meaning.
 Historiography is the imaginative reconstruction of the past through historical methods, and
as a result, the study of history changes over time.

Theories of History

History is the study of great people

 According to the ancient Greek writer Plutarch, true history is the study of great leaders and
innovators. Prominent individuals shape the course of history through their personality,
strength of character, ambition, abilities, leadership or creativity.

History is the study of the ‘winds of change’

 ‘Winds of change’ means those powerful ideas, forces and movements that shape or affect
how people live, work and think.
 One example of a notable ‘wind of change’ was Christianity, which shaped government,
society and social customs in medieval Europe. Another was the European Enlightenment,
which undermined old ideas about politics, religion and the natural world; this triggered a long
period of curiosity, education and innovation.

History is the study of difficulty and response

 British writer Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975), believed historical change is driven by difficulties
and responses.
 All civilizations are shaped not just by their leadership or conditions but by how they respond
to difficult problems or crises. The survival and success of civilizations depends on its people
and how creative, resourceful, adaptable and flexible they are.

History is the study of dialectics

  German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), Introduced The Theory of
Dialectics and applied it to history.
 In philosophy, dialectics is a process where two or more parties with vastly different
viewpoints reach a compromise and mutual agreement.
 Hegel suggested that most historical changes and outcomes were driven by dialectic
interaction.
 According to Hegel, for every thesis (a proposition or ‘idea’) there exists an antithesis (a
reaction or ‘opposite idea’). The thesis and antithesis encounter or struggle, from which
emerges a synthesis (a ‘new idea’).

 The German philosopher Karl Marx (1818-1883)

 student of Hegel and incorporated the Hegelian dialectic into his own theory of history –
but with one important distinction.
 According to Marx, history was shaped by the ‘material dialectic’: the struggle between
economic classes. Marx believed the ownership of capital and wealth underpinned most
social structures and interactions.
 Marx’s material dialectic was reflected in his stinging criticisms of capitalism, a political
and economic system where the capital-owning classes control production and exploit the
worker, in order to maximize their profits.

History is the story of the unexpected

 Some historians believe history is shaped by the accidental and the surprising, the
spontaneous and the unexpected. While history usually follows patterns, it does not always
follow a clear and expected path. The past is filled with unexpected incidents, surprises and
accidental discoveries.

Importance of Studying History

There are many ways to discuss the real functions of the subject—as there are many different
historical talents and many different paths to historical meaning. All definitions of history's utility,
however, rely on some fundamental facts. Here are some of them.

History Helps Us Understand People and Societies

 History offers a storehouse of information about how people and societies behave. Data
from the past must serve as our most vital evidence in the quest to figure out why our
complex species behaves as it does in societal settings.
 It offers the only extensive evidential base for the contemplation and analysis of how societies
function, and people need to have some sense of how societies function simply to run their
own lives.

History Helps Us Understand Change and How the Society We Live in Came to Be

 The past causes the present, and so the future. Any time we try to know why something
happened we have to look for factors that took shape earlier. We need to look further back to
identify the causes of change.
 Only through studying history can we grasp how things change; only through history can we
begin to comprehend the factors that cause change; and only through history can we
understand what elements of an institution or a society persist despite change.

History Contributes to Moral Understanding

 History also provides a terrain for moral contemplation.

History Provides Identity

  History also helps provide identity. Historical data include evidence about how families,
groups, institutions and whole countries were formed and about how they have evolved while
retaining cohesion.
 Histories that tell the national story, emphasizing distinctive features of the national
experience, are meant to drive home an understanding of national values and a commitment
to national loyalty.

Studying History Is Essential for Good Citizenship

 A study of history is essential for good citizenship.

 History provides data about the emergence of national institutions, problems, and values. It
offers evidence also about how nations have interacted with other societies, providing
international and comparative perspectives essential for responsible citizenship.
 Further, studying history helps us understand how recent, current, and prospective changes
that affect the lives of citizens are emerging or may emerge and what causes are involved.
 More importantly, studying history encourages habits of mind that are vital for responsible
public behavior, whether as a national or community leader, an informed voter, a petitioner, or
a simple observer.