EXTERNAL

AND
INTERNAL
CRITICISMS
What is Historical Criticism?
 1. External
Criticism
2. Internal Criticism
External Criticism

❖It refers
 to the genuineness of the
documents a researcher uses in a
historical study.
❖It has to do with the authenticity
of a document.
What is External Criticism?

❖The
problem
 of authenticity. ❖To spot
fabricated, forged, faked
documents.
❖To distinguish a hoax or
misrepresentation.
Tests of Authenticity

1. Determine the date of the document

 to see whether they are
anachronistic.
2. Determine the author.
3.Anachronistic style - e.g. idiom,
orthography, punctuation can be detected by
specialist who are familiar with
contemporary writing.

4.Anachronistic reference to events -an act

of attributing a custom, event, or object to a
period to which it does not belong.
5. Provenance or custody – determines its
genuineness

6. Semantics- determining the meaning of a text or

word

7. Hermeneutics - determining ambiguities

(inexactness) and is concerned with problems that
arise when dealing with meaningful human actions
and the products of such actions, most importantly
texts.
Internal Criticism

❖It
refers to
the
accuracy of the contents of a
document.
 ❖It has to do with what the
document says.
What is Internal Criticism?

❖The Problem of Credibility

❖Relevant particulars in the document – is it
credible?
❖Verisimilar - as close as what really
happened from a critical examination of
best available sources
Tests of Credibility
1.Identification of the author - to
determine his reliability; mental
 processes, personal attitudes

2.Determination of the approximate

date - e.g. handwriting, signature, seal
3. Ability to tell the truth - e.g. nearness to
the event, competence of witness, degree of
attention
4. Willingness to tell the truth- e.g.
to determine if the author consciously or
unconsciously tells falsehoods
5. Corroboration - i.e. historical facts –
particulars which rest upon the independent
testimony of two or more reliable witnesses

Three Major Components

to Effective Historical
Thinking
 1.

Sensitivity to Multiple Causation

2. Sensitivity to Context
3. Awareness of the interplay of continuity and
change in human affairs