A Course Module for

Readings in Philippine
History
John Lee Candelaria, Veronica C. Alporha, Ayshia F. Kunting
2021
Lesson 2: History and the
Historian

Week No. 1
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

Lesson Objectives
By the end of this lesson, the students will be able to:
• examine the historian’s role in the production of historical
knowledge;
• consider the challenges that confront historians in the conduct
of their job;
• differentiate history as a profession vis-à-vis other meanings of
history; and
• identify how historical interpretation is affected by factors like
bias and subjectivity.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

Lesson Outline

1. Who Qualifies as a Historian?

2. Tasks of Historians
3. The Objectivity of the Historian
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

Lesson Introduction

• Historians dedicate their skills and intelligence in the production of

historical knowledge.
• There are several characteristics that differentiate historians from other
writers and scholars.
• Historians have tasks and responsibilities to fulfill in order to produce
credible history.
• In dealing with historical research, historians may be influenced by their
respective contexts and subjectivities.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

Who Qualifies as a Historian?: Discussion Points

• All of the historical knowledge that we study and utilize at present are
products of meticulous research done by historians who dedicated their
intellect and skills in writing history.
• A historian is someone who continuously pursues historical knowledge.
• Historians are expected to keep up with changes and developments in
historical knowledge in light of new evidence.
• The historian produces historical knowledge through the continuous and
constant pursuit of historical knowledge by answering questions about the
past through gathering and interpreting historical evidence.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

Who Qualifies as a Historian?: Discussion Questions

• What sets a historian apart from a student of history?

• How does a historian produce historical knowledge?
• How do historians conduct historical inquiry?
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

Who Qualifies as a Historian?: Answers

• While students of history read and learn history books and essays,
historians produce these books and texts.
• Historians are not limited to the consumption of historical knowledge in
books and in other media. Historians engage in ceaseless historical
research to improve on existing historical knowledge.
• Historians are trained to ask relevant historical questions, employ proper
perspective, and gather and interpret historical sources and evidence
through a systematic historical methodology.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian
Tasks of Historians: Discussion Points

• Historical sources and evidence cannot speak for themselves.

• Historians are needed to examine and interpret them through the skills
they acquired in training for historical research and methodology. It is the
historian’s task to convert historical sources to historical knowledge.
• Aside from interpreting historical sources, it is also the historian’s task to
determine what is historical.
• The historical fact is different from a fact from the past. Not everything that
happened in the past, whether or not it is true, counts as a historical fact.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

Tasks of Historians: Discussion Points

• Edward Hallett Carr states that a historical fact is something that is

determined by the historian.
• Historical questions are brought about by issues at present that demand
historical explanation.
• Historians and the historical knowledge that they produce have
significantly influenced their respective contexts. The historian’s interests
and life’s work are inevitably influenced by various factors such as
nationality, political ideology, religion, educational background, and overall
experiences.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

Tasks of Historians: Discussion Questions

• What is the task of the historian in relation to historical sources and

evidence?
• Who determines which facts of the past are counted as historical facts?
• What are the factors that influence the determination of historical facts?
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

Tasks of Historians: Answers

• Since an evidence cannot speak for itself, it becomes the duty of the
historian to render historical interpretation to any given historical source.
This is done through a meticulous and methodological criticism and
examination.
• Not all facts of the past are historical facts. It is the historian who decides
which part of the past would be included in historical knowledge.
Depending on the current condition and issues, the historians decide
which matters deserve scholarly attention.
• The historian is often affected by his own context when he writes history.
Such context may include sociocultural, political, and economic contexts;
nationality and religion; ideology and education; and so on.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian
The Objectivity of the Historian: Discussion Points

• An exact and accurate account of the past is impossible because we

cannot access the past directly as our subject matter. Historians only get
to access a representation of the past through historical sources and
evidence.
• Historians’ interpretation of the historical fact is also affected by their
backgrounds and circumstances. Their subjectivity will inevitably influence
the process of their historical research and their reading.
• Even though historians cannot ascertain absolute objectivity, the study of
history remains scientific because of the rigor of research and
methodology that historians employ.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

The Objectivity of the Historian: Discussion Points

• Historical methodology consists of certain techniques and rules that

historians follow to properly collect and select sources and historical
evidence.
• Since history is a professional academic discipline, historians are always
subjected to scrutiny by their peers.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

The Objectivity of the Historian: Discussion Questions

• If historians are responsible in interpreting historical sources and they are

inevitably influenced by their contexts, then can history be objective?
• Given the subjectivity of the historian, how can we ensure credible and
reliable historical knowledge?
• What are the other ways that we can ensure credibility in any given
historical work?
Lesson 2: History and the Historian

The Objectivity of the Historian: Answers

• An absolute objective historical knowledge is not possible in history
because the nature of its inquiry precludes us from conducting an
objective and empirical observation. We always rely on sources and
evidence to be studied and interpreted.
• The goal of historical research is credibility and not objectivity. Historical
research requires rigor. The subjectivity of the historian is tempered by a
rigorous and systematic historical research.
• As a professional field, historians are also subject to the scrutiny of their
peers. As in other scientific disciplines, validation from fellow historians is
necessary to establish historical credibility.
Lesson 2: History and the Historian
Summary

• Historians produce historical knowledge through rigorous historical

research that involves finding and interpreting historical sources and
evidence.
• Historians are inevitably influenced by contexts and circumstances. Their
contexts may inform the way that they conduct historical research.
• Despite the inherent subjectivity of the historian, historical knowledge can
still be scientific by adhering to rigorous historical methodology and
through collaboration with peers in the discipline.