Methodology of History

700 Pages·1977·18.722 MB·English

by  Topolski, Jerzy

METHODOLOGY OF HISTORY
SYNTHESE LIBRARY
MONOGRAPHS ON EPISTEMOLOGY,
LOGIC, METHODOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE,
SOCIOLOGY OF SCIENCE AND OF KNOWLEDGE,
AND ON THE MATHEMATICAL METHODS OF
SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
Managing Editor:
Jaakko Hintikka, Academy of Finland and Stanford University
Editors:
Robert S. Cohen, Boston University
Donald Davidson, Rockefeller University and Princeton University
Gabriel N uchelmans, University of Leyden
Wesley C. Salmon, University of Arizona
VOLUME 88
JERZY TOPOLSKI
METHODOLOGY
OF HISTORY
Translated from the Polish by
OLGIERD WOJTASIEWICZ
D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY
DORDRECHT - HOLLAND / BOSTON - U.S.A.
PWN- POLISH SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHERS
WARSAW-POLAND
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Topolski, Jerzy.
Methodology of history.
(Synthese library; v. 88)
Translation of Metodologia historii.
Bibliography: p.
1. History — Methodology. I. Title.
D16.T6613 900'. 1'8 76-25080
ISBN-13: 978-94-010-1125-9 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-010-1123-5
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-1123-5
This translation has been made from
METODOLOGIA HISTORII
Published in 1973 by Pahstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Warszawa
Distributors for U.S.A., Canada and Mexico
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Distributors for all other countries
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Copyright (£) by PWN- Polish Scientific Publishers - Warszawa 1976
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1976
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any informational storage and
retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner
CONTENTS
Introduction................................................................................... 1
Part One
METHODOLOGY AND HISTORY
I. The Subject Matter of the Methodology of Sciences . . . . 11
1. The main branches and aspects of the methodology of sciences 11
2. The methodology of sciences and semiotics.................................... 12
3. The methodology of sciences and the history of science . 18
4. The methodology of sciences and the theory of games and of
decision-making...................................................................................... 19
5. The methodology of sciences and information theory . 20
6. The methodology of sciences and epistemology............................. 22
7. The methodology of sciences and ontological and psychological
investigations...................................................................................... 22
8. Conclusions for use in specialized methodologies . . . . 26
n. The Subject Matter of the Methodology of History . . . . 30
1. Branches of the methodology of history.................................... 30
2. The pragmatic methodology of history........................................... 33
3. The apragmatic methodology of history........................................... 35
4. The objective methodology of history........................................... 36
5. The general methodology of history versus the methodologies
of the various historical disciplines.................................................. 38
6. The general methodology of history in relation to heuristics
and source criticism. The place of the auxiliary historical dis­
ciplines .................................................................................................... 41
III. The Scope of the Subject Matter (Domain) of Historical
Resea rch ....................................................................................... 46
1. Preliminary rem arks....................................................... 46
2. The etymology and the semantic evolution of the term history 46
3. General definitions of the subject matter of history (as a sci­
ence) ............................................................................. 50
4. History as res gestae and history as historia rerum gestarum 53
VI CONTENTS
Part Two
PATTERNS OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Grounds for Classification........................................................................................ 59
IV. Pragmatic Reflection............................................................................... 67
1. A ntiquity............................................................................................. 67
2. The Middle A ges............................................................................... 71
V. Critical Reflection...................................................................................... 78
1. The development of the critical pattern of research and early
eruditionism............................................................................................. 78
2. The philosophical variant of the critical pattern of historical
research. Further development of instruments of historical (Crit­
icism in the 18th century................................................................. 84
VI. Erudite and Genetic Reflection......................................................... 96
1. The grounds for singling out this pattern of reflection. The
third phase of historical narration.................................................. 96
2. Methodological reflection under Romanticism............................. 99
3. The peculiarities of positivist reflections on history . 109
VII. Structural Reflection........................................................................................ 124
1. The rise of a structural pattern of historical research . 124
2. Philosophical inspirations of anti-positivist history . . . . 125
3. The anti-positivist philosophy of history........................................ 127
4. The characteristics of structural reflection in historical research 139
5. H. Berr and the Annales school. Other trends in France . 143
6. Methodological reflection in Britain and in America . 148
7. Methodological trends in German historiography . . . . 151
8. Structural historiography in other countries. Concluding re­
marks ................................................................................................................ 154
vm. Logical Reflection............................................................................... 169
1. The rise of the logical reflection on science................................ 169
2. The problem of the logical-positivist demarcation of science
and m etaphysics........................................................................................ 172
3. Methodological issues in analytic philosophy................................ 174
4. Misunderstandings over the struggle of analytic philosophy
against metaphysics in history. K. Popper and I. Berlin . 176
5. Trends in the logical analysis of history.................................... 181
IX. Dialectical Reflection........................................................................................ 193
I. A review of the earlier types of reflection on history . 193
2. The rise of dialectical reflection on history.................................... 197
3. The novel ontological and epistemological elements in ma­
terialistic dialectic............................................................................... 203
4. The rise of historical materialism.................................................. 208
CONTENTS vii
Part Three
THE OBJECTIVE METHODOLOGY OF HISTORY
X. Historical Facts............................................................................................. 219
1. Preliminary rem arks........................................................................ 219
2. The controversy over the concept of historical fact . . . . 220
3. The main characteristics of the dialectical interpretation of
historical fact. A fact as a system.................................................. 225
4. Spatio-temporal determinants of historical facts . . . . 230
XI. The Process of History (Causality and Determinism) . 239
1. The principle of causality as the basis of the statement on the
regularity of historical facts......................................................... 239
2. Determinism and indeterminism in history.................................... 245
3. Regularity and chance in history.................................................. 249
4. The problem of an individual’s free w ill.................................... 252
5. The role of prominent individuals in history............................. 255
6. Fatalism and teleologism. The problem of determinism in the
explanation of past events................................................................ 262
XII. The Process of History (Historical Regularities) . . . . 275
1. The concept of historical regularities and their tentative clas­
sification ............................................................................................. 275
2. Historical regularities and principal causes.................................... 276
3. Synchronic regularities........................................................................ 278
4. Diachronic regularities........................................................................ 284
5. The regularities of historical development (synchronic-dia­
chronic regularities)............................................................................... 287
6. Stages in the process of history (social formations) . . . . 295
Part Four
THE PRAGMATIC METHODOLOGY OF HISTORY. THEORY OF
SOURCE-BASED AND NON-SOURCE-BASED KNOWLEDGE
XIII. The Nature of Historical Cognition.................................................. 305
1. General description of the process of cognition............................. 305
2. Characteristics of scientific cognition........................................... 307
3. The controversy over the nature of historical cognition . 310
4. Arguments against scepticism. The characteristic traits of his­
torical cognition............................................................................... 314
5. Epistemological relativism and the problem of objectivity in
historical cognition............................................................................... 326
6. Truth in h isto ry ............................................................................... 339
7. The concept of probability in historical research . . . . 345
viii CONTENTS
XIV. Questions and Answers. A General Reconstruction of
Historical Research........................... 360
1. The problem of decisions................................................................ 360
2. Basic concepts in the theory of historical questions and answers 361
3. The concept of hypothesis in historical research . . . . 366
4. The structure of historical theories and methodological models 370
5. Schemata of hypothetical procedure in historical research . 376
XV. Theory of Source-Based Knowledge.................................................. 386
1. The general concept of historical source.................................... 386
2. Earlier classifications of historical sources.................................... 389
3. A tentative solution of the problem of the classification of
sources.................................................................................................... 392
4. The reading of source information (decoding)........................... 395
5. The concept of source-based knowledge and source-based data 398
XVI. Theory of Non-Source-Based Knowledge.................................... 401
1. A tentative explanation of the concept of non-source-based
knowledge............................................................................................. 401
2. The structure of non-source-based knowledge. Non-source-
based data............................................................................................. 404
3. The origin of non-source-based knowledge............ 405
4. Current knowledge and common sense............... 407
5. Non-source-based scientific knowledge........................................... 411
6. Theoretical issues of the integration of science.......... 413
XVII. The Functions of Source-Based and Non-Source-Based
Knowledge................................ 418
1. An analysis of the historian’s procedure from the point of view
of the role of source-based and non-source-based knowledge 418
2. The functions of non-source-based knowledge!. The problem of
the nominal model of questions.................... 421
3. The functions of non-source-based knowledge2. The problem,
of methodological model (selection)............... 423
4. The functions of non-source-based data............ 426
Part Five
THE PRAGMATIC METHODOLOGY OF HISTORY: THE
METHODS OF RECONSTRUCTION OF THE PROCESS OF
HISTORY
XVIII. The Authenticity of Sources and the Reliability of
Informants............................................................................................. 431
1. The general concept of source criticism............... 431
2. The authenticity of sources...................... 433
3. The rules of the examination of authenticity (external criticism) 434
4. The concept of reliability...................... 442
5. The study of reliability (internal criticism).................................... 444
6. Problems of authorship of sources.................................................. 449
CONTENTS IX
........................
XIX. Methods of Establishing Historical Facts 454
1. A general reconstruction of the procedure of establishing facts 454
2. Induction and deduction in research........................................... 456
3. Induction and deduction in historical research............................. 460
.
4. The direct and the indirect method of establishing facts 461
5. The philological (lexical) method.................................................. 467
6. The geographical method................................................................. 468
7. The genealogical method................................................................. 469
.
8. The comparative method (in its territorial version) 471
9. The retrogressive method (the chronological version of the
comparative method)........................................................................ 474
.
10. Inference from the lack of data (argumentum ex silentid) 475
XX. Quantitative Methods in Historical Research............................. 483
1. An outline of the development of quantitative analyses in
historical research............................................................................... 483
.
2. The concept and the objectives of historical statistics 488
3. Statistical grouping of data......................................................... 492
4. Calculations by estimation and calculations based directly on
..................................................................
sources 495
5. Exhaustive calculations versus representative samples. The
.........................................................
chi-square test 501
.............................
6. The numerical analysis of structures 506
7. A numerical analysis of changes.................................................. 515
...............................................
8. Correlation analysis 520
...................
9. Computer applications in historical research 523
......................................
10. Quantitative analyses of texts 526
11. Prospects for applications of mathematics in historical research 528
.
XXI. The Procedure of Explanation in Historical Research 536
.
1. The various interpretations of historical explanation 536
2. Understanding and explanation.................................................. 539
.
3. Types of causal explanation in historical research 544
4. Explanation of goal-oriented human actions (humanistic in­
.........................................................
terpretation) 545
........................
5. Explanation by reference to dispositions 552
6. The general procedure of causal explanation. HempePs model 558
7. Explanation by indication of conditions which are both
sufficient and necessary................................................................. 568
. . . .
8. Explanation by indication of sufficient conditions 570
. . . .
9. Explanation by pointing to necessary conditions 572
10. Explanation by reference to conditions necessary in a given
situation............................................................................................. 574
11. Explanation by reference to favourable conditions . 576
12. Search for disturbing factors......................................................... 577
13. Explanation by reference to more direct and less direct causes 578
14. Genetic explanation and genetic description............................. 580
XXII. Construction and Synthesis................................................................. 587
.
1 Basic and derivative research questions........................................... 587
2. Simple and synthetic constructions.................................................. 588
X CONTENTS
3. The problem of synthesis in historical research............................. 590
4. Periodization in history........................................................................ 593
5. Territorial and factual scope and classification of research types 596
Part Six
THE APRAGMATIC METHODOLOGY OF HISTORY
XXIII. The Nature and Instruments of Historical Narration . 605
1. The problem of narration in the methodology of sciences . 605
2. Historical narratives versus narratives in general . . . . 606
3. Types of scientific historical narratives. Chronicle writing versus
historiography...................................................................................... 608
4. Historical imagination................................................................. 614
5. The language of narratives................................................................. 615
6. Classifying and ordering concepts.................................................. 617
7. The role of counterfactual inference........................................... 620
XXIV. Components of Narratives: Historical Statements and
Laws........................................................................................................... 625
1. Categories of historical statements.................................................. 625
2. Spatio-temporal determinants.......................................................... 627
3. The controversy over historical generalizations............................. 628
4. Types of historical generalizations.................................................. 631
5. The controversy over the laws of science.................................... 634
6. Laws in historical narratives......................................................... 637
7. The concept of regularities in some historical studies . 640
XXV. Elements of Historical Narratives: Evaluations . . . . 643
1. Valuation versus evaluations. The logical value of evaluations 643
2. The various forms of the valuating attitude of historians . 646
3. The kinds of evaluations in historical narratives . . . . 649
4. The criterion of progress as the main element of proper evalu­
ations in historiography........................................................................ 651
5. Historians in face of evaluations.................................................. 655
XXVI. The Methodological Structure of Historical Research . 661
1. Criteria of classification of sciences.................................................. 661
2. The anti-naturalist and the naturalist view of the social
sciences.................................................................................................... 664
3. Subject-oriented and pragmatic idiographism............................. 668
4. History versus sociology. The need for the development of
social history...................................................................................... 671
5. The tasks of history........................................................................ 674
Index of Names.................................................................................................... 678