[gothic-l] History and the Scientific method

[Andreas Schwarcz]

On 17 Jul 2003 at 21:22, Ravi Chaudhary wrote:

>>  And that is exactly what I wish to draw our attention to, versions 
> of history.
> 
> 
>> 
> I would hope that we do not take the view that persons from other 
> disciplines are unable to contribute to our understanding of History.
> 
> Ravi

History has, like all humanities and sciences its own scientific methods and versions of 
history are only possible as far as these versions are based on the common ground of 
sources and their interpretation according to historical and philological standards and 
to put these versions or better , models of history, to the test of comparison with the 
established facts and theories of the scientific community and the scientific discussion 
within this community. Of course specialists from other fields can also contribute to our 
understanding of history, eapecially with concrete knowledge from their own fields of 
specialisation, but not by presenting outdated or obscure historical literature to support 
their own peculiar views or by treating historical sources as a kind of quarry for 
citations without a serious discussion of their background, their circumstances and 
their construction and their literary transmission (see for a methodological discussion 
my contributions and those of George Knysh in the archives of this list some months 
ago). 

Take care
                           Andreas SchwarczAo.Univ.Prof.Dr.Andreas Schwarcz
Institut für österreichische Geschichtsforschung
Universität Wien
Dr.Karl Lueger-Ring 1
A-1010 Wien
Österreich
Tel.0043/1/42-77/272-16
Fax 0043/142-77/92-72



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