Thucydides’ Historical Method

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Forsdyke
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Past ◽  
Critical Method ◽  
Rhetorical Figure ◽  
Literary Techniques

This chapter shows how Thucydides’ rigorous critical method and literary artistry combine to produce an intellectually penetrating and emotionally gripping account of the past. For Thucydides, the key to accuracy is his interpretation of the facts. But he also wanted his readers to experience events as he perceived them and thereby also experience the validity of his interpretations. In addition to analyzing Thucydides’ goals, the essay also discusses Thucydides’ approach to chronology, the types of evidence and modes of reasoning that he uses, his understanding of human nature, his distinction between true and alleged causes, and his use of literary techniques such as vivid detail, dialogue, and the rhetorical figure of hyperbole.

True History and False History in Classical Antiquity

1981 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 50-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilio Gabba
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Classical Antiquity ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
The Past ◽  
Standard Text

Like all works of literature, works of history end up sooner or later with a readership quite different from that envisaged or hoped for by their authors. A subtle and polemical work such asThe Gallic Warof Caesar has become a standard text for teaching Latin in the early years of secondary education, as have the tender and sophisticated elegies of Tibullus and Propertius. In Italy, the unpopularity of ‘The Betrothed’ by A. Manzoni, a finely ironical and difficult but rewarding novel, is the result of the distaste or boredom experienced by children forced to read it at school.A similar fate has dogged Thucydides. As T. P. Wiseman has recently emphasized, Thucydides and Polybius, precisely because their historical method is close to our own, are regarded as the paradigms against which to judge ancient historical writing—quite wrongly. In fact they are untypical and exceptional; and one has moreover to ask to what extent they were even properly understood in antiquity. In a famous chapter near the beginning of his work (1. 22. 4), Thucydides proudly distances it from that of Herodotus, though without naming him: his own history is not designed for passing appreciation, but is to be of permanent value. Because human nature is always the same, a critical record of past events will present analogies and resemblances when compared with future developments. Knowledge of the past is thus useful, because it improves ones judgment and understanding and even suggests how to behave in situations in which one may find oneself.

Hume's Political Methodology: A Reconsideration of “That Politics May Be Reduced to a Science”

1976 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Conniff
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Political Methodology ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Past ◽  
Actual Experience

In his analysis of Plato's Republic, Aristotle objects to his teacher's abstract and psychological method by suggesting that “there is another matter which must not be ignored—the teaching of actual experience. We are bound to pay some regard to the long past and the passage of the years, in which these things…would not have gone unnoticed if they had been really good.” Ever since that time, political theorists have been divided on the question of the appropriate approach to the study of politics, and often, as in the case of Plato and Aristotle, the focal point of the disagreement has been whether politics is best seen through the lens of history or the study of human nature and the development of a consequent psychology. This, for example, is the crux of the argument between James Mill and T. B. Macaulay. Mill is the proponent of a psychological approach; he maintains “it is immediately obvious that a wide and difficult field is presented, and that the whole science of human nature must be explored to lay a foundation for the science of government.” Macaulay disagrees, for he believes that “the style which the Utilitarians admire, suits only those subjects on which it is possible to reason a priori.” Indeed, in Macaulay's view, Mill belongs in the Middle Ages: “of those schoolmen Mr. Mill has inherited both the spirit and the style. He is an Aristotelian of the fifteenth century, born out of due season.” Far better, continues Macaulay, is the inductive historical method which observes the world, examines facts, devotes itself to the careful study of the past, and checks itself “by perpetually bringing the theory which we have constructed to the test of new facts….”

RUNTUHNYA KHILAFAH TURKI UTSMANI 3 MARET 1924

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miftahul Jannah
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
Cultural Issues ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Republic Of Turkey

<p align="center"><strong>Abstrak</strong></p><p>Tulisan dalam jurnal ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui proses runtuhnya Khilafah Turki Ustmani tanggal 3 maret 1924 dan dampaknya terhadap kehidupan umat Islam. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode sejarah. Metode sejarah adalah prosedur sejarawan Untuk melukiskan kisah masa lampau berdasarkan jejak-jejak yang ditinggalkan pada masa lampau dengan langkah-langkah penulisan sejarah sebagai berikut: (1) heuristik, (2) kritik, (3) interpretasi dan (4) historiografi. Berdasarkan penelitian yang dilakukan maka dapat ditarik kesimpulan bahwa: Khilafah Turki Ustmani dihancurkan dengan cara menghapus sistem kekhilafahan dan menggantinya dengan sistem republik oleh seorang keturunan yahudi yaitu Mustafa Kemal Attatur. Selama 14 abad kaum muslimin hidup dalam pemerintahan Islam yang mana diterapkan hukum-hukum Islam dalam seluruh aspek kehidupan. Namun sayangnya hari itu tepatnya 3 maret 1924 secara resmi dengan bantuan Inggris, Mustafa Kemal Attaturk mengubah khilafah dengan sistem Repulik Turki dan sampai hari ini sistem tersebut masih berjalan. Runtuhnya khilafah menyebabkan munculnya persoalan kaum muslimin mulai dari kolonialisme, konflik di Negara dunia ketiga, persoalan ekonomi,politik dan sosial budaya.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Kata Kunci:</strong> Khilafah Turki Ustmani, 3 maret 1924</p><p> </p><p align="center"><strong><em>Abstract</em></strong></p><p><em>The writing in this journal aims to find out the process of the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate on March 3, 1924 and its impact on the lives of Muslims. The method used in this study is the historical method. Historical method is the procedure of historians to describe the story of the past based on traces left in the past by the steps of historical writing as follows: (1) heuristics, (2) criticism, (3) interpretation and (4) historiography.</em></p><p><em>Based on the research conducted, it can be concluded that: the Ottoman Caliphate was destroyed by removing the Caliphate system and replacing it with a republic system by a descendant of the Jews namely Mustafa Kemal Attatur. For 14 centuries the Muslims lived in an Islamic government which applied Islamic laws in all aspects of life. But unfortunately that day to be exact 3 March 1924 officially with the help of Britain, Mustafa Kemal Attaturk changed the Caliphate with the system of the Republic of Turkey and to this day the system is still running. The collapse of the Caliphate caused the emergence of problems of the Muslims ranging from colonialism, conflict in third world countries, economic, political and socio-cultural issues</em><em>.</em></p><p><em> </em></p><strong><em>Keywords:</em></strong><em> the Caliphate of Turkish Ottoman, March 3, 1924</em>

The Nature of Degrowth: Theorising the Core of Nature for the Degrowth Movement

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasi Heikkurinen
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Culturally Sensitive ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Core ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
Radical Reduction ◽  
Nature Experience ◽  
Matter Energy

This article investigates human–nature relations in the light of the recent call for degrowth, a radical reduction of matter–energy throughput in over-producing and over-consuming cultures. It outlines a culturally sensitive response to a (conceived) paradox where humans embedded in nature experience alienation and estrangement from it. The article finds that if nature has a core, then the experienced distance makes sense. To describe the core of nature, three temporal lenses are employed: the core of nature as ‘the past’, ‘the future’, and ‘the present’. It is proposed that while the degrowth movement should be inclusive of temporal perspectives, the lens of the present should be emphasised to balance out the prevailing romanticism and futurism in the theory and practice of degrowth.

A Scientific Search for Altruism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Daniel Batson
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
Empathic Concern ◽  
Altruistic Motivation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Past Half Century ◽  
Series Of Experiments ◽  
Past Half

This book provides an example of how the scientific method can be used to address a fundamental question about human nature. For centuries—indeed for millennia—the egoism–altruism debate has echoed through Western thought. Egoism says that the motivation for everything we do, including all of our seemingly selfless acts of care for others, is to gain one or another self-benefit. Altruism, while not denying the force of self-benefit, says that under certain circumstances we can care for others for their sakes, not our own. Over the past half-century, social psychologists have turned to laboratory experiments to provide a scientific resolution of this human nature debate. The experiments focused on the possibility that empathic concern—other-oriented emotion elicited by and congruent with the perceived welfare of someone in need—produces altruistic motivation to remove that need. With carefully constructed experimental designs, these psychologists have tested the nature of the motivation produced by empathic concern, determining whether it is egoistic or altruistic. This series of experiments has provided an answer to a fundamental question about what makes us tick. Framed as a detective story, the book traces this scientific search for altruism through the numerous twists and turns that led to the conclusion that empathy-induced altruism is indeed part of our nature. It then examines the implications of this conclusion—negative implications as well as positive—both for our understanding of who we are as humans and for how we might create a more humane society.

‘Higher then to her no bookes doe reach’

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha Vandrei
Keyword(s):  
Early Stage ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Contemporary Philosophy ◽  
James I ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Past ◽  
Classical World ◽  
Material Evidence ◽  
Do So

This chapter and the following both draw the reader into seventeenth-century understandings of the past, and of Boudica in particular, and makes clear that in a time before disciplines, writers of ‘history’ were erudite commentators, immersed in political thought, the classical world, and contemporary ideas, as well as in drama, poetry, and the law. Chapter 1 shows the subtleties of Boudica’s place in history at this early stage by giving sustained attention to the work of Edmund Bolton (1574/5–c.1634), the first person to analyse the written and material evidence for Boudica’s deeds, and the last to do so in depth before the later nineteenth century. Bolton’s distaste for contemporary philosophy and his loyalty to James I were highly influential in determining the way the antiquary approached Boudica and her rebellion; but equally important was Bolton’s deep understanding of historical method and the strictures this placed on his interpretive latitude.

The economics of escalation

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-140
Author(s):  
Fabio D’Orlando ◽  
Sharon Ricciotti
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Budget Constraint ◽  
Theoretical Treatment ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
Innate Behavior ◽  
Hedonic Adaptation ◽  
The Past ◽  
Subjective Scale ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Positional Effects

Escalation is a key characteristic of many consumption behaviors that has not received theoretical attention. This paper aims to propose both a definition and a theoretical treatment of escalation in consumption. We define escalation as a subject’s attempt to obtain “more” or engage in consumption behaviors that are “more intense” on a measurable, quantitative or qualitative, objective or subjective, scale (more difficult ski slopes, stronger drugs, harder sex, better restaurants etc.), even if the subject preferred less intense consumption behaviors in the past. Further, this evolution in behavior also occurs if the budget constraint does not change. We will find endogenous and exogenous theoretical microfoundations for escalation in models of hedonic adaptation, desire for novelty, acquisition of consumption skills, rising aspirations, positional effects, and envy. However, we will also discuss the possibility that the tendency to escalate is a specific innate behavior inherent to human nature. Finally, we will propose a preliminary theoretical formalization of such behavior and indicate the possible implications of taking escalation into adequate consideration. JEL codes: B52, D11, D90, D91, I31

HISTORY, MEMORY, AND THE ENGLISH REFORMATION

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 899-938 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDRA WALSHAM
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
English Reformation ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Past ◽  
University Of Cambridge ◽  
Inaugural Lecture ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
The University

ABSTRACTThis article is a revised and expanded version of my inaugural lecture as Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge, delivered on 20 Oct. 2011. It explores how the religious upheavals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries reshaped perceptions of the past, stimulated shifts in historical method, and transformed the culture of memory, before turning to the interrelated question of when and why contemporaries began to remember the English Reformation as a decisive juncture and critical turning point in history. Investigating the interaction between personal recollection and social memory, it traces the manner in which remembrance of the events of the 1530s, 1540s, and 1550s evolved and splintered between 1530 and 1700. A further theme is the role of religious and intellectual developments in the early modern period in forging prevailing models of historical periodization and teleological paradigms of interpretation.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Matthew D. O'Hara
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Colonial Mexico ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Relationship

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the analysis of time experience and futuremaking through historical case studies in colonial Mexico. Colonial Mexico developed a culture of innovation, human aspiration, and futuremaking that was subsequently forgotten in part because it did not fit with later definitions of modernity and innovation as secular phenomena and things untethered to the past or tradition. This choice of historical method and topics is driven by a desire to step outside some of the dominant paradigms in the study of Latin America and colonialism in general. Examining the relationship between past, present, and future offers a way to reconsider Mexico's colonial era, its subsequent historical development, and how people have understood that history.

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