Why Historians Disagree 现代大学英语课件.pptVIP

Lesson 3Why Historians Disagree by Allen F. Davis Harold D. Woodman I. Questions for Discussion Talk about the questions on P.78 for further understanding. II. Introductions Brief Introduction to the Text This is a much condensed and adapted version of the preface to the book called Conflict and Consensus compiled by two American history professors. In this essay, the two authors discuss the definition of history, the role of the historian and the reasons why historians disagree. They point out the common misunderstanding that history is just names, dates and statistics of the past, and the historian’s job is to find and remember as many of them as possible. And because they have different interests and a different understanding of human motivation and human behavior which in turn is due to their different background in age, sex, race, class, education, religion, politics, etc, they tend not only to be interested in different facts but also interpret the sane facts differently. The two historians therefore emphasize the importance of understanding the historians’ approach, perspective and philosophy rather than the facts they have used or left out. In China, history began as part of literature, usually about kings and generals, and about the rise and fall of dynasties, which supposedly contains numerous moral lessons for posterity. In extreme cases it was even treated as a tool for propaganda. Of course due to the influence of modern western culture people later came to see history as a science. However today people generally agree that it is not a science in the sense that physics or chemistry is sciences. History has to do with human activities and social development and, as a result, it is not purely objective. Besides, there are far more variables involved than in the natural sciences. That is why it is so challenging and intriguing. And young students today must understand that it is a very important part of their education. It should be noted that al