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Subject _____________________ Teacher _____________ Date _______

Drawing out
Types of Activity  Concept Notes  Individual  Formative Others, specify:
the best  Laboratory  Pair/Group  Summative
in you!

MODULE: 1
LESSON: 1

Lesson/Topic : Meaning of History

Learning Target(s) : Describing What History is All About

Concept/Digest:

HISTORY is derived from the Greek word Historia which means learning by inquiry.
The
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Greek
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mathematics
“μάθημα”came
(máthēma)
from
The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, looked upon history as the systematic accounting of a set of natural
phenomena, that is, taking into consideration the chronological arrangement of the account.
This explained that knowledge is derived through conducting a process of scientific investigation.
The word History is referred usually for accounts of phenomena, especially human affairs in
chronological order.

Types of Theories

1. FACTUAL HISTORY – presents readers the plain and basic information vis-à-vis the events that
took place (what), the time and date with which the events happened (when), the place with which
the events took place, and the people that were involved (who).

2. SPECULATIVE HISTORY – It goes beyond facts because it is concerned about the reasons for
which events happened (why), and the way they happened (how). “It tries to speculate on the
cause and effect of an event”

Definition of Terms

• HISTORIAN – individuals who write about history. They undertake arduous historical research to
come up with a meaningful and organized rebuilding of the past.

• HISTORIOGRAPHY – the practice of historical writing. The traditional method in doing

historical research that focus on gathering of documents from different libraries and archives to
form a pool of evidence needed in making a descriptive or analytical narrative.

Limitation of Historical Knowledge

The incompleteness of records has limited man’s knowledge of history. Most human affairs happen
without leaving any evidence or records of any kind, no artifacts, or if there are, no further evidence of the
human setting in which to place surviving artifacts.

The whole history of the past (called history-as-actuality) can be known to historian only through the
surviving records (history-as-record). And most of history-of-record is only a tiny part of the whole
phenomenon.

They tell history from what they understood as a credible part of the record.

History as the Subjective Process of Recreation

From the incomplete evidence, historians strive to restore the total past of mankind. They do it from the
point of view that human being live in different times and that their experiences maybe somehow
comparable, or that their experiences may have significantly differed contingent on the place and time.

The historian’s aim is verisimilitude (the truth, authenticity, plausibility) about a past.
Unlike the study of the natural science that has objectively measurable phenomena, the study of history is
a subjective process as documents and relics are scattered and do not together comprise the total object
that the historian is studying.
Historical Analysis/Method

The process of critically examining and analyzing the records and survivals of the past.

1. Select the Subject to investigate

2. Collect probable sources of information on the subject

3. Examine the sources genuineness

4. Extract credible particulars from the sources

Activity 1

Answer the questions below in not less than 5 sentences.

1. How do you give meaning to a so called “history”? Explain

2. How important historical writings are in your life as a student and as a person living in this
country?