In our opinion, the relevance of the logical and philosophical understanding of history for its scientific character cannot be doubted. The fact is that most of the modern interethnic and interethnic conflicts (including paramilitary ones) are «mixed up», very often, on the «historical component». Some ethnic groups, especially under the influence of propaganda, are sure that they inhabited this territory «earlier» than others (and vice versa), and therefore have more rights to it; they have a reason to be a «titular nation»; they must have certain privileges; their religious views must be endowed with the status of an official ideology, and so on. To substantiate their claims, leaders or representatives of such national, ethnic or religious formations very often resort to «scientific argumentation», while referring to the research of certain historians as «truth» proved by «historical science». And this, in turn, can lead to sad consequences. It is enough to recall the «scientific research» of the ideologists of the Third Reich, adherents of Mussolini’s ideas or some Islamist theorists. In this regard, the question arises as to how much one can trust the research of historians? Is history able to provide guaranteed true scientific knowledge about the past? In general, is history a science? That is why the purpose of our article is a logical and philosophical analysis of history in order to find out whether it is really a science. The methodology of our research has become traditional logical and philosophical methods: analysis, synthesis, elements of deduction, the method of ascent from the abstract to the concrete, as well as the method of unity of the historical and logical. The scientific novelty of this article is that the author justifies the fact that history is not a science from a logical and philosophical position. The results obtained in the course of the research carried out in the article have a certain theoretical and practical significance. Their theoretical significance lies in the fact that they can be used by scientists in conducting scientific research in the field of philosophy of science, philosophy of history, political science, sociology, social psychology, ethnography, religious studies and others. In addition, they can be used by practitioners (politicians, public and religious figures, heads of state and public organizations, etc.) in resolving social conflicts and solving other socially significant tasks.
Prolegomena to the Problem of Determination and Classification of Original Religious Beliefs
