| Description |
1 online resource (xiii, 121 pages). |
| Physical Medium |
polychrome |
| Description |
text file |
| Series |
Philosophica ; no. 42
|
|
Collection Philosophica ; 42.
|
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 115-121). |
| Contents |
Preface; CHAPTER 1 History: Practice and Theory; CHAPTER 2 Knowledge; CHAPTER 3 Reality; CHAPTER 4 Traditional History; CHAPTER 5 Rational Economic Man; CHAPTER 6 Economic Reality; CHAPTER 7 Conclusion; Bibliography and Further Reading. |
| Access |
Use copy Restrictions unspecified MiAaHDL |
| Summary |
Has 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. Understanding History 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. |
| Reproduction |
Electronic reproduction. [S.l.] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2010. MiAaHDL |
| System Details |
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. http://purl.oclc.org/DLF/benchrepro0212 MiAaHDL |
| Processing Action |
digitized 2010 HathiTrust Digital Library committed to preserve MiAaHDL |
| Local Note |
JSTOR Books at JSTOR Open Access |
| Subject |
History -- Philosophy.
|
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History -- Philosophy. |
|
Historiography.
|
|
Historiography. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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Electronic books.
|
| Other Form: |
Print version: Gorman, J.L. (Jonathan L.), 1946- Understanding history. Ottawa : University of Ottawa Press, 1992 (DLC) 92090193 |
| ISBN |
9780776617374 (electronic book) |
|
0776617370 (electronic book) |
|
0776603558 |
|
9780776603551 |
| Report No. |
DESLIB_CEL |
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