Empiricism and History - Paperback

by Stephen Davies (Author)

The central doctrine of empiricism - that true knowledge or understanding of the world comes ultimately from sense impressions - underlies most of the practices and arguments of professional historians, but many historians have denied that there is a theory behind what they do. In the last twenty years, however, postmodernism has had a powerful effect on the discipline of history and is now forcing empiricist historians to articulate their methods, and to defend them as both possible and virtuous. In this concise introduction, Stephen Davies explains what historians mean by empiricism, examines the origins, growth and persistence of empirical methods, and shows how students can apply these methods to their own work.

Back Jacket

The central doctrine of empiricism - that true knowledge or understanding of the world comes ultimately from sense impressions - has underpinned most of the practices and arguments of historians for the past 150 years. Empirical history has always faced attacks from a variety of other approaches, however, including Marxism, philosophical idealism and, most recently, postmodernism. In spite of this, empirical methods have prevailed, and the study of history remains broadly empirical.

In this concise introductory guide, Stephen Davies:

- explains what historians mean by empiricism
- examines the origins and growth of the empirical method and how it has fought off challenges from other ways of studying the past
- assesses its application to an ever wider range of subjects
- shows how students can apply empirical methods to their own work.

Author Biography

STEPHEN DAVIES is Senior Lecturer in History at Manchester Metropolitan University.