COLEGIO DE MONTALBAN

Kasiglahan Village, San Jose, Rodriguez, Rizal

INSTITUTE OF COMPUTER STUDIES

Module 1
Dr. Gerico D. Sabado
Instructor
The Meaning of Email Address:
History, Sources of gerico.sabado@gmail.com

Historical Data, Contact Number:

09760139139
& Historical
Criticisms

GE 2
Readings in Philippine
History
 MODULE 1: THE MEANING OF HISTORY, SOURCES OF HISTORICAL DATA, AND HISTORICAL CRITICISMS

OVERVIEW

Module 1 introduces history as a discipline and as a narrative. It duscusses the limitation of

historical knowledge, history as the subjective process of re-creation, and historical method and
historiography. Further, this module presents the sources of historical and data, the written and non-
written sources of history, as well as the differentiation of primary and secondary sources of information or
data. Lastly, it also discusses historical criticisms, namely, external and internal criticisms. These are
important aspects on ascertaining the authenticity and reliability of primary sources upon which narratives
are crafted.

MODULE DURATION: WEEK 1-2

I. Synchronous Learning via virtual meeting (google meet)

II. Asynchronous learning inquiries, you may reach me through messenger
group chat and personal message during our official time.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

To understand the meaning of history as an academic discipline

To examine and assess critically the value of historical evidence and sources.
To appreciate the importance of history in the social and national life of the Philippines.

INPUT INFORMATION

1. Meaning of History
2. Sources of Historical Data
3. Historical Criticisms

LESSON 1: MEANING OF HISTORY

HISTORY is derived from the Greek word historia which means learning by inquiry. 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 of past events.

The word History is referred usually for accounts of phenomena, especially human affairs in chronological
order. There are theories constructed by historians in investigating history: the factual history and the speculative
history. Factual history presents readers the plain and basic information vis-a-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). Speculative history, on the other hand, 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'" (Cantal, Cardinal, Espino & Galindo, 2014). To make sense of history, it is necessary to first
understand what it is all about. Many people think that history is merely lists of names, dates, places, and “important”
events. However, History or the study of history is more than just knowing and memorizing facts.

History deals with the study of past events. Individuals who write about history are called historians. They seek
to understand the present by examining what went before. They undertake arduous historical research to come up with
a meaningful and organized rebuilding of the past. But whose past are we talking about? This is the basic question that
the historian needs to answer because this sets the purpose and framework of a historical account. Hence, a salient
feature of historical writing is the facility to give meaning and impact value to a group of people about their past. The
practice of historical writing is called historiography, 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. The modern historical writing does not only include examination of documents but also the use
of research methods from related areas of study such as archaeology and geography.
THE 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. Although it may have happened, but the past has perished forever with only
occasional traces. The whole history of the past (called history-as-actuality) can be known to a historian only through
the surviving records (history-as-record), and most of history as-record is only a tiny part the whole phenomenon. Even
the archaeological and anthropological discoveries are only small parts discovered from the total past.

HISTORY THE SUBJECTIVE PROCESS OF RE-CREATION

From the incomplete evidence, historians strive to restore the total past of mankind. They do it from the point
of view that human beings 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. For the historian, history becomes only
that part of the human past which can be meaningfully reconstructed from the available records and from inferences
regarding their setting.
In short, 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. Some
of the natural scientists, such as geologists and paleo-zoologists who study fossils from the traces of a perished past,
greatly resemble historians in this regard, but they differ at certain points since historians deal with human
testimonies as well as physical traces.

HISTORICAL METHOD AND HISTORIOGRAPHY

The process of critically examining and analysing the records and survivals of the past is called historical
method. The imaginative reconstruction of the past from the data derived by that process is called historiography. By
means of historical method and historiography (both of which are frequently grouped together simply as historical
method), the historian endeavours to reconstruct as much of the past of mankind as he/ she can. Even in this limited
effort, however, the historian is handicapped. He/she rarely can tell the story even of a part of the past as it occurred.
For the,past conceived of as something that "actually occurred" places obvious limits upon the kinds of record and of
imagination that the historian may use. These limits distinguish history from fiction, poetry, drama, and fantasy.
Historical analysis is also an important element of historical method. In historical analysis, historians: (1) select
the subject to investigate; (2) collect probable sources Of information on the subject; (3) examine the sources
genuineness, in part of in whole; and (4) extract credible "particulars" from the sources (or parts of sources). The
synthesis of the "particulars" thus derived is historiography. Synthesis and analysis cannot be entirely separated since
they have a common ground, which is the ability to understand the past through some meaningful, evocative and
convincing historical or cross-disciplinary connections between a given historical issue and other historical contexts,
periods, or themes.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Match the items in column A with the items in column B. Write the letter of the correct answer on the space
provided before each number.
A B
_______1. Incompleteness of records has limited man's a. verisimilitude
knowledge of history b. historia
_______2. These are raw materials out of which history c. interpretative
maybe written. d. historical impartiality
_______3. This historical method historians investigate, e. historiography
collects and examine sources f. artifacts or documents
_______4. Historian's ability to reconstruct knowledge g. limitation of historical knowledge
historical events. h. Aristotle
_______5. Historians aim of searching the truth, authenticity i. historical method
and plausibility. J. historical analysis
_______6. Objects or things that have since historical bias k. historical bias
been forgotten or the experience of generation long dead.
_______7. The practice of historical writing
_______8. Learning by inquiry
_______9. Historical objectivity
_______10. The process of critically examining and analyzing
the records and survivals of the past.

Give a concise explanation/discussion:

1. How important historical writings are to a person, group/race, and country? Explain.
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MODULE 1:
THE MEANING OF HISTORY, SOURCES OF HISTORICAL DATA, AND HISTORICAL CRITICISMS

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2. Give a concise explanation/discussion:

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