Method
The study of history is not just a story based on sources. A scholar is able to explain why he does what he does; awareness of methodological problems is the difference between a professional and a dilettante. Explaining this is of the greatest importance, because there are two disturbing developments.
- An increasing number of people has received a higher education, and is capable of recognizing the errors made by professional scholars, who are increasingly specialized and are often insufficiently aware of developments outside their specialism.
- On internet, people select the information they like - and this is usually bad information, because bad information drives out good.
Although it has, since about 2005, been generally recognized that websites like Livius.org and books for a larger audience must not just present the facts but should explain method as well, no satisfying way to explain method has been found so far. However, we can at least try to create awareness that history is a serious discipline. On this page, you will find links to several issues and problems, not all of them methodological.
This category contains 23 articles:
- Altertumswissenschaft article
- Bad information drives out good theory
- Conjecture theory
- Dendrochronology theory
- Elimination of manuscripts theory
- Elimination of sources theory
- Everest Fallacy theory
- Explanation theory
- First Law of Archaeology theory
- Formalism theory
- Goropizing theory
- Hermeneutics theory
- Lectio difficilior potior theory
- Maccabees and Method article
- Maximalists and Minimalists theory
- Orality theory
- Ostracon article
- Positivist Fallacy theory
- Terminus ante/post quem theory
- Testis unus testis nullus theory
- Textual criticism theory
- The Significance of Marathon article
- Varronian Chronology article
3 pictures related to this category
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 Tree rings from the Viking settlement at Haithabu |
 De Bruijn, serail in Isfahan |