Verlag | Oxford University Press |
Auflage | 2022 |
Seiten | 336 |
Format | 15,6 x 1,8 x 23,9 cm |
Print PDF | |
Gewicht | 488 g |
Artikeltyp | Englisches Buch |
EAN | 9780192855657 |
Bestell-Nr | 19285565EA |
Should historians make value judgements about the past? Many historians think not, but Donald Bloxham contends that it is legitimate, often unavoidable, and frequently important. History and Morality illuminates how far tacit moral judgements infuse works of history, and how strange those histories would look if the judgements were removed.
Against majority opinion within his profession, Donald Bloxham argues that it is legitimate, often unavoidable, and frequently important for historians to make value judgements about the past. History and Morality draws on a wide range of historical examples, and its author's insights as a practicing historian. Examining concepts like impartiality, neutrality, contextualisation, and the use and abuse of the idea of the past as a foreign country, Bloxham's book investigates how far tacit moral judgements infuse works of history, and how strange those histories would look if the judgements were removed. The author argues that rather than trying to eradicate all judgemental elements from their work, historians need to think more consistently about how, and with what justification, they make the judgements that they do. The importance of all this lies not just in the responsibilities that historians bear towards the past - responsibilities to take historical actors on those actors' ow n terms and to portray the impact of those actors' deeds - but also in the role of history as a source of identity, pride, and shame in the present. The account of moral thought in History and Morality has ramifications far beyond the activities of vocational historians.
Inhaltsverzeichnis:
Introduction
1: Contemplating Historical Actors in Context
2: Writing History: Problems of Neutrality
3: Justifying Judgement on Things Past
4: History, Identity, and the Present
Bibliography
Index
Rezension:
Bloxham's book is a call for nuance and self-awareness, arguing that moral judgement is not only important, but is actually inescapable. What matters is how we deploy it - and that we are conscious of doing so. Jonathan Waterlow, H/Sz/Kult