THE DISCIPLINE OF HISTORY

The word history comes from the

Greek word historia, which means
"finding out", "inquiry" and
"narrative". In some interpretations,
historia means "knowledge acquired
by investigation".
The American Historical
Association defines history as
"the never-ending process
whereby people seek to
understand the past and its
meaning".
History, in many ways, is a
way for us to understand
ourselves and make sense
of the world.
Will, a historian, and
Ariel Durant, a
researcher-husband-and
wife writing partners of
Story of Civilization-
presented how history
could be an industry, art,
and philosophy:
a. -As an industry, history
"[ferrets] out facts" -which
means that a historian
should discover the primary
sources that describe past
events and not simply rely
on hearsay or
unsubstantiated opinions.
b. As an art, history
"[establishes] a meaningful
order in the chaos of
materials" -which means the
historian must analyze the
facts that he or she obtained
to be able to make sense out
of all the available data.
c. As a philosophy, history
"[seeks] perspective and
enlightenment" -which means
the historian must provide a
critical interpretation of the
historical facts so that his or
her target audience would
grasp and understand the past
events.
DEVELOPMENT OF
HISTORY
The prehistoric period refers to the time when
a system of writing was not yet invented to
record history, which during that time was
passed down from generation to generation
through oral tradition.
• Stones
• Bones
• Tablets
• Bronze
The earliest systems of writing were in the
forms of cuneiform in Mesopotamia,
hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt, and
logograms in ancient China.
In ancient Egypt, written history
started around the middle of the
third millennium BCE. The early
Egyptians chronicled ancient
Egyptian history by listing the
names of kings and the rulers of
Egypt.
Ancient Mesopotamians also recorded
history by providing a list of kings; aside from
that, they also wrote narrations, which
weaved a coherent historical account.
In ancient China, -the studying -and
recording of history became more developed.
History was used to propagate Chinese moral
philosophy, which was closely linked to the
political and social lives of the Chinese.
- Confucius (551-479 BCE) –
books of chungiu ( spring and
autumn annals) Shujing ( Classic
of History)
- Sima Quian “ Grand Historian”
(145-87 BCE) in his work Shiji
(Historical Records)
In ancient Greece, logographers (from
the Greek words logos meaning "story"
and grapho meaning "to write") were
considered to be the first historians.
They wrote stories on the origins of
peoples, places, and towns in prose
style.
 Polybius (200-118 BCE),
a Greek historian, was
instrumental in igniting
Roman historiography as
he wrote why Rome did
not see fit to recount its
historic achievements.
Important Personalities in History
Herodotus (484-425 BCE) is known
to be the Father of History.
Herodotus compiled and
systematically arranged his
collection of works in The Histories
(440 BCE).
Important Personalities in History
Thucydides (460-400 BCE) was
a Greek philosopher, historian,
and general. He is known the
Father of Scientific History as
his History of the
Peloponnesian War (431 BCE)
recounted events based on
evidence and analysis.
Important Personalities in History
Ban Gu (32-92 CE) he was a
Chinese historian and poet.
He became famous for
compiling the Book of Han,
which contained the history
of the Han dynasty.
Important Personalities in History
Karl Marx AVES: among others,
a German philosopher,
economist, and sociologist.
Marx is often referred to as the
Father of Communism. Marx
stated in his book The German
Ideology his theory on the
materialist conception of
history.
Important Personalities in History
Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897) was
a Swiss historian known as one of
the Fathers of Cultural History. His
work, The Civilization of the
Renaissance in Italy (1860),
depicted the interconnectedness
between art and its effects on
society and social institutions.
The Fields of History
Cultural history focuses on the study
of belief systems, customs, social
forms, political systems, material
traits, and economic activities of a
group or community usually for the
purpose of cross comparison with
others.
Social history is concerned with the
study of particular kinds of phenomena
such as family and marriage,
adolescence and mass media human
rights and inequality, industrialization
and development, and work and leisure
through the use of sociological theories
and approaches.
Intellectual history locks into the
history of ideas and theories.
Historiography is one of its
primary subfields wherein the
development of schools and
approaches are documented.
 Research Method in History
Oral Tradition
In societies is where written language is not present, traditions are
passed on through stories handed down from one generation to the
next. These stories could be in the form of legends and myths or in
some contexts, community laws.
External Criticism
This is a method wherein the historian checks the validity and
originality of this evidence used for the reconstruction of a historical
event or figure
Internal Criticism
This is method where the historian checks the validity of the content
of a historical document or artifact by comparing it with existing
historical evidence related to the same event or figure.