MARC Record from marc_oapen

LEADER: 02187 am a22003013u 450
001 578813
005 20151103
007 cu#uuu---auuuu
008 151103s|||| xx o 0 u eng |
020 $a9780776603551
020 $a9780776617374
024 7 $a10.26530/OAPEN_578813$2doi
041 0 $aeng
042 $adc
072 7 $aHB$2bicssc
072 7 $aHP$2bicssc
100 1 $aGorman, Jonathan$4aut
245 10 $aUnderstanding History
260 $a$bUniversity of Ottawa Press / Les Presses de l?Université d?Ottawa$c1992
300 $a135
520 $aHas any question about the historical past ever been finally answered? Of course there is much disagreement among professional historians about what happened in the past and how to explain it. But this incisive study goes one step further and brings into question the very ability of historians to gather and communicate genuine knowledge about the past.<i>Understanding History</i> applies this general question from the philosophy of history to economic history of American slaveholders. Do we understand the American slaveholders? Has the last word on the subject been said? Both the alleged ?profitability? of slavery and the purported causes of the American Civil War are philosophically analyzed. Traditional narrative history and econometric history are examined and compared, and their different philosophical assumptions made explicit. The problem of justifying historical methodologies is first set in the wider context of the philosophical problem of knowledge, then lucidly explained and resolved along pragmatic lines. The novelty of Gorman?s approach lies in its comparison of narrative with econometric history, its analysis of empathetic understanding in terms of cost-benefit analysis, and its elucidation of the metaphysical presuppositions of empiricism. It stands out especially for the clarity, rigor, and simplicity of its arguments.
546 $aEnglish.
650 7 $aHistory$2bicssc
650 7 $aPhilosophy$2bicssc
653 $aphilosophy
653 $ahistory
856 40 $uhttp://www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=578813$zAccess full text online
856 40 $uAll rights reserved$zLicense