Description
Book SynopsisIn this important new book, Paul T. Phillips argues that most professional historians aside from a relatively small number devoted to theory and methodology have concerned themselves with particular, specialized areas of research, thereby ignoring the fundamental questions of truth, morality, and meaning. This is less so in the thriving general community of history enthusiasts beyond academia, and may explain, in part at least, history’s sharp decline as a subject of choice by students in recent years.
Phillips sees great dangers resulting from the thinking of extreme relativists and postmodernists on the futility of attaining historical truth, especially in the age of post-truth. He also believes that moral judgment and the search for meaning in history should be considered part of the discipline’s mandate. In each section of this study, Phillips outlines the nature of individual issues and past efforts to address them, including approaches derived from other
Trade Review
"Phillips's book is not a thundering polemic but, rather, a quiet, reasoned meditation. [...] The author is generally an erudite guide, and he packs a great many observations as to the history and philosophy of history into 134 pages of text." -- Alan MacHeachern, Western University * University of Toronto Quarterly *
Table of Contents
Preface Introduction 1. Truth 2. Morality 3. Meaning 4. History Beyond the Academy Conclusion Notes Index
