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Chapter 2 - Introduction To History 2

The document discusses the module "Readings in Philippine History". It outlines several key points about the study of history as an academic discipline. History can be connected to other fields like political science, economics, sociology, psychology, and geography. Sources of historical data include published documents, unpublished documents, oral histories, and visual documents. Modern history covers more than just kings and queens, and examines common people and societies. While history uses scientific methods, it differs from sciences in its inability to conduct experiments or predict the future. Overall, history has aspects of both a science and an art.

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135 views6 pages

Chapter 2 - Introduction To History 2

The document discusses the module "Readings in Philippine History". It outlines several key points about the study of history as an academic discipline. History can be connected to other fields like political science, economics, sociology, psychology, and geography. Sources of historical data include published documents, unpublished documents, oral histories, and visual documents. Modern history covers more than just kings and queens, and examines common people and societies. While history uses scientific methods, it differs from sciences in its inability to conduct experiments or predict the future. Overall, history has aspects of both a science and an art.

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Ace Abiog
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© © All Rights Reserved
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MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY


2

At the end of this module, learners will be able to:

 To be able to understand the meaning of history as an academic


discipline and to be familiar with the underlying philosophy and
methodology of the discipline.
 To apply the knowledge in historical methodology and philosophy in
assessing and analyzing existing historical narratives.
 To appreciate the importance of history in the social and national life of
the Philippines.
MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

History as a social sciences and its relation to other fields of


disciplines

As a social science, history has been known as the study of the past. It is
unique because it can be almost effortlessly connected to other academic
disciplines.

a. History and Political Science

A historian is not merely concerned with the tracing of the history of the
political process by a narration of the episodes. But he has to learn the
nature of fundamental political principles and basic forms of political
institution.

History is very helpful to politics because the political aspects is a part of


the whole range of activity recorded by historian and knowledge of history
would enable the politicians to know the politics better and play their role
effectively.

b. History and Economics

History is closely related to economics as the activities of man in society are


very closely related with the economic matters. Thus, the historian of any
period must possess at least a rudimentary knowledge of the economics. In
fact, the economic history of any period is an important branch of history
and its understanding is absolutely essential for the proper understanding
of history of any period.

c. History and Sociology

Both history and sociology are concerned with the study of man in society
and differed only with regard to their approach. Max Weber acknowledges
the initial dependence of sociology upon history. Although, history too
benefits from the interaction.

d. History and Psychology

A historian must have to show some psychological insights while making an


analysis of the motive and actions of men and societies. Historian work
would be mere fiction unless her uses the discoveries of modern psychology.
The personal life and the environment of a historian has a direct bearing in
his decision and often import a bias to his account and renders the much
desired objectivity impossible.
MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

e. History and Geography

It would be impossible to study certain branches of history without


rudimentary knowledge of geography. Geology is one of the eyes of history,
the other eye being chronology. Time and space factors give history its
correct perspective.

Sources of Historical Data

a. Published documents-created for large audiences and were distributed


widely. (i.e. books, magazines, newspapers, government documents,
pamphlets, posters, laws and court decisions)

b. Unpublished documents-personal in nature and may be difficult to find


because of few copies existing. (i.e. diaries, journals, school report cards and
business ledgers)

c. Oral traditions/oral histories-provide another way to learn about the past


from people with firsthand knowledge of historical events.

d. Visual documents and articles- include photographs, films, paintings and


other types of works. Visual documents usually capture moments in time.

The modern concept of history

Modern history has gone beyond the traditional status of an antiquarian


and leisure time pursuit to a very useful and indispensable part of a man’s
education. It is more scientific and more comprehensive. It has expanded in
all directions both vertically and horizontally. It has become broad-based
and attractive. According to modern concept, history does not contain only
the history of kings and queens, battles and generals, but the history of the
common man-his house and clothing, his fields and their cultivation, his
continued efforts to protect his home and hearth, and to obtain a just
government, his aspirations, achievements, disappointments, defeats and
failures. It is not only the individual but the communities and the societies
are the subject of study of history. Study of history deepens our
understanding of the potentialities and limitations of the present. It has
thus become a future-oriented study related to contemporary problems. For
all these reasons, history has assumed the role of a human science.

History-a Science or an Art

Opinions are very much divided on the question whether history is a


science or an art.
MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

History is a science in the sense that it pursues its own techniques to


establish and interpret facts. Like other natural sciences such as the
Physics and Chemistry uses various methods of enquiry such as
observation, classification, experiment and formulation of hypothesis and
analysis of evidence before interpreting and reconstructing the past. History
also follows the scientific method of enquiry to find out the truth. Though
historian uses scientific techniques, experiment is impossible since history
deals with events that have already happened and cannot be repeated.

Arguments against History as a science

1. No forecasting: Rickman has rightly said, “History deals with sequence of


events, each of them unique while Science is concerned with the routine
appearance of things and aims at generalizations and the establishment of
regularities, governed by laws.

“A historian cannot arrive at general principles or laws which may enable


him to predict with certainty the occurrence of like events, under given
conditions. A scientist on the other hand, looks at knowledge from a
universal angle and arrives at certain generalizations that help him to
control the present and predict the future.

2. Complex: The facts of history are very complicated and seldom repeat in
the real sense of the term.

3. Varied: The underlying facts of history have wide scope. They are so
varied that they can seldom be uniform.

4. No observation and experimentation: Historical data are not available for


observation and experimentation.

5. No dependable data: Historical data are the products of human thoughts


and action which are constantly changing. They therefore cannot provide
dependable data for the formation of general principles and laws.

History is both a Science and an Art

History is a unique subject possessing the potentialities of both a science


and an art. It does the enquiry after truth, thus history is a science and is
on scientific basis.

It is also based on the narrative account of the past; thus it is an art or a


piece of literature. Physical and natural sciences are impersonal, impartial
MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

and capable of experimentation. Whereas absolute impartiality is not


possible in history because the historian is a narrator and he looks at the

Past from a certain point of view. History cannot remain at the level of
knowing only. The construction and reconstruction of the past are inevitable
parts of history.

Like the work of art, its wholeness, harmony and truth are inseparable from
a concrete and vivid appreciation of its parts. History, in fact, is a social
science and an art. In that lie its flexibility, its variety and excitement.

Scope of History

The scope of History is vast; it is the story of man in relation to totality of his
behavior. The scope of history means the breadth, comprehensiveness,
variety and extent of learning experiences, provided by the study.

History which was only limited to a local saga, has during the course of
century become universal history of mankind, depicting man’s achievements
in every field of life-political, economic, social, cultural, scientific,
technological, religious and artistic etc., and at various levels-local, regional,
national, and international.

It starts with the past; makes present its sheet-anchor and points to the
future. Events like wars, revolutions, rise and fall of empires, fortunes and
misfortunes of great empire builders as well as the masses in general are all
the subject matter of history.

History is a comprehensive subject and includes-History of Geography,


History of Art, History of Culture, History of Literature, History of
Civilization, History of Religion, History of Mathematics, History of Physics,
History of Chemistry, History of Education, History of Biology, History of
Atom, History of Philosophy-in fact history of any and every social, physical
and natural science we are interested in. History today has become an all-
embracing, comprehensive subject with almost limitless extent
MODULE: READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Please click the link below for the Course Overview:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7NTW3n8luY
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX4vFtQqw8c
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Xcf6CMJmg

 Candelaria, J.L. et. al. (2018) Readings in Philippine History.


Rex Book Store. Manila.

 https://ddceutkal.ac.in/Syllabus/MA_Education/Education
_Paper_5_history.pdf

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