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Intro to Ancient History. 11: What is history for?. Discuss…. ‘ Hegel remarks somewhere that all facts and personages of great importance in world history occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. ’
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Intro to Ancient History 11: What is history for?
Discuss… • ‘Hegel remarks somewhere that all facts and personages of great importance in world history occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.’ • ‘The future is dark, the present burdensome; only the past, dead and finished, bears contemplation. Those who look upon it have survived: they are its products and victors. No wonder, therefore, that men concern themselves with history.’ • ‘He who forgets the past is condemned to repeat it.’
Why bother with the question? • Pragmatism: others will ask it (employers, government, family…) • Need for self-justification? • Answer is potentially revealing about the psychology of historians. • Answer affects how history is practised, what sort of history gets written etc.
Possible answers • Pragmatic: transferable skills • Knowledge as an end in itself; curiosity • Key to present: origins, explanations • Cross-cultural comparison; theories • Lessons of history: parallels, repetition, even prediction? • Past as source of personal/social/national identity, hence source of power
