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Historical Knowledge, Historical Error: A Contemporary Guide to Practice

Historical Knowledge, Historical Error: A Contemporary Guide to Practice © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 DOI: 10.1163/187226309X408802 Journal of the Philosophy of History 3 (2009) 79–89 www.brill.nl/jph Review Articles Allan Megill, Historical Knowledge, Historical Error: A Contemporary Guide to Prac- tice , Chicago/London: Th e University of Chicago Press, 2007, $60.00 cloth, $25.00 paper. ISBNs: 13: 978-0-226-51829-9 (cloth); 10: 0-226-51829-9; 13 (cloth): 978-0-226-51830-5 (paper); 10: 0-226-51830-2 (paper). xvi + 288. “What grounds do we have for accepting the accounts of the past that historians and others off er to us? Or, to put this in a slightly diff erent way, How can we best avoid historiographic error?” (ix). Megill sees this as David Hackett Fischer’s main question in his “troubling” 1970 book Historians’ Fallacies and he explicitly claims to share it as his own central interest. Just as Fischer warningly presented 112 1 “fallacies” which various historians had committed, so epistemology intended for historian readers – “history majors and fi rst-year graduate students” (ix) – will enable them to detect and avoid “pitfalls”. Th e aim is to “alert (or re-alert) practic- ing historians – and especially beginners – to the epistemological aspect of their practice” (x). Megill disclaims achieving Fischer’s witty style of presentation, and indeed http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of the Philosophy of History Brill

Historical Knowledge, Historical Error: A Contemporary Guide to Practice

Gorman, Jonathan
Journal of the Philosophy of History , Volume 3 (1): 79 – Jan 1, 2009
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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 2009 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1872-261X
eISSN
1872-2636
DOI
10.1163/187226309X408802
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 DOI: 10.1163/187226309X408802 Journal of the Philosophy of History 3 (2009) 79–89 www.brill.nl/jph Review Articles Allan Megill, Historical Knowledge, Historical Error: A Contemporary Guide to Prac- tice , Chicago/London: Th e University of Chicago Press, 2007, $60.00 cloth, $25.00 paper. ISBNs: 13: 978-0-226-51829-9 (cloth); 10: 0-226-51829-9; 13 (cloth): 978-0-226-51830-5 (paper); 10: 0-226-51830-2 (paper). xvi + 288. “What grounds do we have for accepting the accounts of the past that historians and others off er to us? Or, to put this in a slightly diff erent way, How can we best avoid historiographic error?” (ix). Megill sees this as David Hackett Fischer’s main question in his “troubling” 1970 book Historians’ Fallacies and he explicitly claims to share it as his own central interest. Just as Fischer warningly presented 112 1 “fallacies” which various historians had committed, so epistemology intended for historian readers – “history majors and fi rst-year graduate students” (ix) – will enable them to detect and avoid “pitfalls”. Th e aim is to “alert (or re-alert) practic- ing historians – and especially beginners – to the epistemological aspect of their practice” (x). Megill disclaims achieving Fischer’s witty style of presentation, and indeed

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Journal of the Philosophy of History – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2009

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