It is no secret that, without knowledge of the past, which provide the necessary experience, human society would stop in its development. Over time, such a field of knowledge as historical science has formed. The functions, methods and stages of its development will be considered in this article.
The concept of historical science
History or historical science is a sphere of public knowledge, the object of study of which is the past of mankind. As scientists like to say: "History is the social memory of man." This is a whole complex of sciences that considers history both in the broad sense, for example, universal, and in a narrower one - of the ancient world, the newest of Russia, the military, and so on.
Despite the fact that historical science, the subject and function of which is the study of the past, is not at all static, because the source base is constantly changing, new ones appear and old ones are criticized. The economic and political situation in the state is changing, which also has a huge impact on historical science (as an example, the assessment of historical events in tsarist Russia and Soviet power that replaced it radically differs).
How it all began
Officially, historical science was born in the 5th century BC. Everyone remembers from the school curriculum of the philosopher Herodotus, who is still considered the "father of history", Thucydides and his work "History of the Peloponnesian War", Xenophon and Polybius. The ancient Greeks preferred to describe the events of which they were contemporaries - the priority was wars, biographies of politicians and politics itself, as well as other peoples and religion.
A great contribution to the development of historical science was the work of "Annals" and "History" of the Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus. Guided by the motto - "Without anger and partiality" (that is, objectively and with the aim of establishing the truth) - he was engaged in a biography of Roman emperors.
Over time, the principles and functions of the historical science of ancient times were continued in the writings of Byzantine scholars (Procopius of Caesarea). In Europe in the Middle Ages chronicles appear - a description of events by year, everything that happens is explained by "divine providence", and the history of the church becomes a priority for study. The most famous thinker of this time is St. Augustine the Blessed.
Renaissance and Enlightenment
The Renaissance era brought such innovations in the methods and functions of historical science as the criticism of the source. Scientists in their works should necessarily refer to sources, and the more links and citation, the better. Famous thinkers of this time are Benedict Spinoza, Francis Bacon (the work "The New Organon", which was written using the method of induction he developed - from particular to general).
The Age of Enlightenment served as a great leap for the development of all sciences, including history. New sources open up, they are systematized, deciphered. For the first time, the idea is put forward that the development of the functions of historical science is influenced by such a factor as the form of government. Charles Montesquieu, in addition to the above, also identified such factors:
- physical (geographical location, climate);
- social (religion, population) factors.
The outstanding French thinker Voltaire believed that people should study the "achievements of the human mind and morality," thereby laying the foundations for the study of culture.
Further development
In the XIX century, within the framework of positivism philosophy, the functions of historical science consisted in a significant increase in the role of historical sources, source study began to develop as an independent discipline, and a written source as the only reliable one.
Work deserves special attention:
- Spengler's "Sunset of Europe" (history - cyclic cultures that originate, survive the heyday and then die);
- Arnold Toynbee's "Civilization", a scientist identified five existing civilizations and twenty from the moment of birth, which are also born, grow, decline and die.
The twentieth century is a time when the historical scope of research is expanding geographically, covering more countries and peoples, as well as chronologically - from primitive to modern times. This is the time of the domination of the formation approach in history, the founders of which were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They believed that material conditions were the determining factor in the life of society, and social aspects and people's worldview depended on them. Thus, history is a process of changing socio-economic formations.
The twentieth and twenty-first centuries are times when the basic functions of historical science are eroded, the boundaries between history and other social sciences — sociology, psychology — are blurred. Scientists conduct new research and experiments, develop new directions, for example, counterfactual history (explores alternatives to historical events and processes).
Cognitive and social functions
Another name for cognitive function is informational. Its essence is to consider and analyze the past of mankind, to understand the essence of the events that took place and what influence they had on the further course of history, that is, the laws of historical development.
The social function of historical science or the function of social memory is the study of the experience of previous generations, their preservation in the memory of the people. It aims to ensure the continuity of generations, to promote national self-identification of peoples. The formation of historical memory is extremely important; the stability of society and the ability to survive in critical situations depend on it. As scientists say: "A people dies when it becomes a population, when it forgets its history."
A classic example of why social memory is extremely important for the people - the rejection of the outcome and results of World War I in Germany led to the outbreak of World War II in just two decades.
Methods of historical science
The subject, principles and functions of historical science include both general methods of cognition - analysis, induction, synthesis, deduction (since almost any science uses them, do not dwell on them in detail), as well as special ones that are unique to it. These methods include:
- Retrospective - in order to identify the true cause of an event, a scientist through sequential actions penetrates the past.
- Historical and comparative - the comparison of historical objects by comparing them in time and space, identifying similarities and differences.
- Historical and typological - consists in compiling classifications of events and phenomena, identifying common features and differences in the objects under consideration.
- Historical and genetic - the study of the phenomenon under study in dynamics, from generation to death, that is, in development.
It should be noted separately that the functions of historical science exclude the method of experiment - it is impossible to accurately recreate the phenomena and processes that once occurred.
Principles of science
Principles in general are ideas, fundamental rules. The basic principles of historical science are:
- Historicism Any fact, phenomenon or event is considered in the context of the historical situation, in dynamics, in time and space.
- Objectivity. It involves, firstly, reliance on genuine facts, taking into account both positive and negative aspects of the phenomenon in question. Secondly, the historian must be independent of his desires and preferences, which can distort historical research.
- Alternative It suggests the existence of a different path of development, in addition to the one that occurred. Using this principle allows you to see unaccounted resources and unrealized opportunities, allows you to learn lessons for the future.
- The social approach. It means that social interests play a significant role in the development of certain processes. It is important to be guided by him when evaluating the programs of political parties in the domestic and foreign policies of the state.
Auxiliary historical disciplines
Speaking about the functions of historical science in the modern world, it is necessary to touch on those disciplines that go hand in hand with them in their studies and are divided into special and auxiliary ones. The main ones are the following sciences:
- Historiography. In a broad sense, it is an auxiliary (special) historical discipline that studies the history of historical science. In a narrower one, these are studies carried out by historians, in a specific area of historical science, or a body of scientific work.
- Source study. This is an auxiliary historical discipline, which comprehensively studies historical sources, uses the analysis of phenomena and events. Source study is theoretical, it deals with determining the origin of sources and their reliability, as well as applied (specific) - it studies individual industries and periods of history.
Special historical sciences
There are several special historical disciplines that help historical science most fully disclose, study the event or phenomenon in question. These are numismatics (studying coins), heraldry (coats of arms), paleography (writing). But the most significant of them are archeology and ethnography:
- The term "archeology" is derived from the ancient Greek words "archeo" - ancient and "logos" - science. This is a discipline that studies the history of mankind on material monuments (buildings, structures, weapons, tools, household items). The role of this discipline is especially growing in the study of those periods of history when there was no written language, or of those peoples who did not have a written language at all.
- The term "ethnography" is also ancient Greek, "ethnos" - people, "grapho" - I write. From here one can understand the essence of this historical discipline - it studies the origin of peoples (ethnic groups), their composition, resettlement and resettlement, as well as culture and life.
Historical sources
A historical source is any thing, a document that contains information about the past and can be used to study historical processes. There are several classifications of these documents, dividing them into groups (according to the purpose of creation, according to the degree of proximity to a historical fact).
The most common is the division of sources into:
- Material - buildings, structures, clothing, weapons, tools and household items - in a word, everything that is created by human hands.
- Ethnographic - customs, traditions, all kinds of rites, beliefs.
- Linguistic - speech, dialect inherent in man, people.
- Oral (folklore) - songs, tales, legends.
- Written - all kinds of manuscripts, archival documents, letters, regulations, memoirs. May be originals or copies.
Science, history
The functions of historical knowledge that predetermine the human concept of historical events are as follows:
- intellectually developing, cognitive - knowledge of historical processes as a social branch of scientific knowledge and a theoretical generalization of the facts of history;
- practical-political - helps in developing a scientifically based political course by identifying patterns in the development of society and options for managing the masses;
- worldview - affects the formation of scientific worldviews by providing accurate, documented, data on the events of the past;
- educational - knowledge of historical facts influences the formation of a civic position.
The subject and functions of historical science is the study of the development of human society in time and space, that is, the historical process. Without this knowledge, society would not be able to develop and move forward.