The Metaphysics of Historical Knowledge (Classic Reprint) - Hardcover

Dewitt Henry Parker

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0484156780 ISBN 13: 9780484156783

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2020

Synopsis

Explore how we know the past and what counts as real history.

This book examines the two main ways we access history—memory and report—and asks how memory preserves past experience and how reports from others shape our knowledge. It also tackles deep questions about time, existence, and what it means for the past to be real or knowable.

Two foundational ideas guide the discussion: first, that memory is not the same as the original experience but is a closely related present act; second, that knowledge from report depends on trust in witnesses and sources. The author also raises important questions about whether the past exists as it did, and how time relates to what we can know.

• Understand how memory and testimony differ, yet connect to our sense of past events.
• See how the idea of time influences claims about historical truth and reality.
• Consider arguments about the existence of the past and what evidence can prove or disprove it.
• Reflect on how metaphysical questions about time and being affect everyday knowledge of history.

Ideal for readers of philosophy, epistemology, and the history of historical knowledge who want to examine what counts as knowing the past and how time shapes our certainty.

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0484156780
• ISBN 13: 9780484156783
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 88