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Heidi At Stathi

Professor Christian Warren

History 2001W

February 8th, 2014

On Aphorisms, Philosophy, and History

When an individual ventures out to gain knowledge, the most natural course of

action would be through the academic study of a topic. However, such an objective requires

for the nature of said topic to be defined. In the case of History, the useful definitions tend

to vary, for they encompass a wide variety of sub-disciplines necessary for the

understanding of the whys, hows, and the role of the whosin the unfolding of history.

First and foremost, one can ask the question of why we even study such a topic, what are

the benefits of doing so, how can we categorize the events of significance, what is fact and

what is fiction, who are the faces shaping our understanding and comprehension of

history? The longer the list, the more surreal and intangible this quest becomes, but the

best place to begin to answer such questions is anywhere.

To begin, let us take a look at what may come about from the exploration of history.

Speculation may lead to the realization that history enables the minds of men (and women)

to know thyself, and thy fellow man, provide a platform for which we can observe patterns

in human nature and behavior that occur in clusters, observably leading to the occurrence

of certain events, so as to avoid those behaviors and actions that predominantly lead to the

destruction, or less dramatically, the general deviation from the best interest of said society

(especially those under certain governmental and economical policies predisposed to

exploiting their people) as indicated and supported by the analysis of historical texts of

relevance. Furthermore, history serves as a map of our collective thoughts and actions

(generational), which may aid in making inferences relative to the present situation at hand

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and by presenting all the information, unbiasedly, in order to give the opportunity to

future societies to make their own informed decisions regarding what works and what

doesnt when governing the masses. Another important role of history lies in its capacity to

guarantee a voice to, place a face on, and document the stories of those who have sacrificed

and paved the road for the betterment of society, so we never forget the struggles of those

who selflessly acted for the greater good and future of man ( and those who purposely acted

in self interest to further their own agendas, let history make such acts known too).

Finally, the most invaluable gift history can give is that of providing the tools for

transformation and regeneration in the world. For what is a lesson learned if it is not

applied? Amongst the many men who set out to transform a body of people, a particularly

successful quest was embarked by Aurelius Augustine (St. Augustine of Hippo). As a

Christian Neoplatonist, North African Bishop, and doctor of Roman Catholic Church, he

successfully merged the Greek philosophical tradition with the Judeo-Christian Religious

and scriptural traditions into a Western Philosophical tradition. He was famous for his

subtle accounts of belief and authority, knowledge and illumination, emphasis on

importance and centrality of the will, and focused on developing new methods for

conceptualizing the phenomena of human history1. Although not a historian, Carl

Heinrich Becker is another notable transformerwho set out for the betterment of

society. A German orientalist and politician, Becker served as Minister for Culture in

Prussia, was one of the founders of contemporary Middle Eastern studies, and a primary

reformer of the education system in the Weimar Republic.

1Mendelson, Michael, "Saint Augustine", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2012 Edition), Edward

N. Zalta(ed.), URL = .

http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/augustine/http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/augustine/http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2012/entries/augustine/

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Following the above, naturally the next step would be to question if the past can

truly be understood and defined in the manner which other fields of study such as scientific

facts are established? This is a difficult notion indeed, for can something of a

predominantly subjective nature ever be considered amongst the ranks of those, purely

objective in nature? The answer? maybe. It is important to take note of the fact that

history is interpreted through a vessel, that being the historian (or philosopher), and

translated through this vessel to into the minds of the masses. It is essentially an individual,

subjective undertaking, no matter how much it is forced to fit the mold of objectivity.

History has philosophical and religious influences in the sense that issues such as morality,

values, good vs evil, right vs wrong, the nature of humanity and its best course of action

relative to self preservation, and preservation of the masses are brought into direct

question and analytical observation is carried out via intellectual queries, logical

deductions and inductions. It is of additional importance to state that, individual

projections are directed outwardly into the world and thus, the world is analyzed through

those individualsmental constructs, where the historical factsdeemed as such are

directly related to the historian/philosophers individual capacity for and expression of the

virtues of a true historian. The unification and balance of mind, degree of self- awareness,

perception of the world and society based off individual code of ethics, values, morals, and

beliefs, finally, integrating with concepts defined as having rulership over the external

world are what form a unified, and of course intellectually orientated account of the

facts.

Facts are drawn from the investigation of what was, picking apart everything which

came before (philosophies, traditions, etc), taking what is recognized as relevant, combined

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with the understanding of the role of the individual in conceptualizing history, and finally

interpreted through the specific societal/cultural norms relevant to the formation of what is

defined as fact and fiction within its rightful context. Therefore, for history to be placed in

the same category as science, the historian is of primary significance to define; how well

does he/she exhibit the 6 virtues of a historian? If the historian is the physical embodiment

of such virtues (accuracy, love of order, logic, honesty, self- awareness, imagination), then

that individualsaccount of history can be established as a truth. One well known

historian, who gained recognition for his admirable character was Sir Isaiah Berlin. Berlin

was a Russian born British social and political theorist, philosopher, and historian of ideas,

thought to be the dominant scholar of his generation. His notable ideas were Two

Concepts of Liberty, Counter- Enlightenment, and Value Pluralismfor which he was

termed a brilliant, intellectual, conversationalist2. Berlins accounts of history were treated

as factual, but one can argue that this was due to his embodiment of virtuosity more so

than his ideas alone, or had they been translated by another scholar in the field. Therefore

history will never be as concretely factual as sciencein this area, there is ALWAYS the

need for opposing ideologies, no two individuals will ever experience and perceive a

situation exactly the same. And that is just one fact that cannot be denied.

Ideas, individuals, and deep material factors are crucial to the study of history. This

is because history is essentially an account of everything there ever was, everyone that ever

was, how they all collided, and the outcomes of these interactions and collisions. As implied

in the sections above, individuals are of dire significance. Looking back throughout history,

Charles Beard serves as wonderful example of the collision between self and the external

2 1. "Philosopher and political thinker Sir Isaiah Berlin dies".BBC News.8 November 1997.

Retrieved 7 March 2012.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/24540.stmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Newshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Newshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Newshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Newshttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/24540.stm

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powers that be. As one of the most influential historians of the first half of the 20th century,

his contributions range from published monographs, textbooks, and interpretive studies on

history and political science. His work also included a re-evaluation of the founding fathers

of America, as he believed their motives were influenced more so by economic as opposed

to philosophical principles. Beards best seller, written with his wife was The Rise of The

American Civilization(1927), which had a great influence on American Historians3.

Nevertheless, he was unable to secure his highly esteemed position in the world. As a

political liberal, he severely opposed of America entering WWII, however this stance was

what lead to the destruction of his career for he placed much blame on Franklin Delano

Roosevelt as opposed to Japan and Germany.4 This account demonstrates that a person is

made either famous or infamous due to their ideas, execution of such ideas into concrete

physical actions, consequences/influences directly caused by such actions which were fueled

by those ideas, which were inspired by either the individual or the individual s perception

of the quality of life of the society on a local or global scale. Individuals are the quintessence

of all that is History!

3Ellen Nore, Charles A. Beard: An Intellectual Biography (1983).4Burris, Charles (2007-08-01)Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal: An Annotated Bibliographic Guide,

LewRockwell.com

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/burris4.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LewRockwell.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LewRockwell.comhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LewRockwell.comhttp://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/burris4.html