Discuss the Roles of Language and Reason in History
TOK- Essay Question 9 “Discuss the roles of language and reasoning in history”
1451 words
Nadia Lotze
000 865-015
Mr Skeoch
History is the past written by the present. The very nature of this statement creates the predicament of historical knowledge. The historians of the present are under constant pressure of rapidly changing society; therefore what we discover from the past is dependent on our perceptions that are forever changing. History and historical explanations are deduced and manipulated by the two ways of knowing, language and reasoning. The role of language in history is very important, because history is written, presented and illustrated to people through language. Reasoning is also an important factor in history; through reasoning historian create a historical record and decipher as logically possible a conclusion. In this essay, the roles and the importance of language and reasoning in history will be explored and to what extent they both help and hinder the pursuit of historical knowledge.
The role of reasoning allows us to deduce a “logical” explanation, in this case from historical fact and to decipher an explanation and if possible a conclusion of past events through means of a rational approach. When unravelling truth in areas of knowledge such as in history it is said that this process should be governed by ‘the thought that reason rules the world’ (Hegel). This is very important because to try and reason facts and evidence into historical knowledge and objective perspective must be taken. Thus, reasoning creates a historical record and only through reasoning can we try to gain a valid conclusion of a certain event. Through both deductive and inductive reasoning, history considers the evidence and facts and rationally deduces a truthful conclusion of the events. Reasoning is needed in the search for historical knowledge because it is the most reliable out of the four ways of knowing and only through reasoning we can try to gain a
1451 words
Nadia Lotze
000 865-015
Mr Skeoch
History is the past written by the present. The very nature of this statement creates the predicament of historical knowledge. The historians of the present are under constant pressure of rapidly changing society; therefore what we discover from the past is dependent on our perceptions that are forever changing. History and historical explanations are deduced and manipulated by the two ways of knowing, language and reasoning. The role of language in history is very important, because history is written, presented and illustrated to people through language. Reasoning is also an important factor in history; through reasoning historian create a historical record and decipher as logically possible a conclusion. In this essay, the roles and the importance of language and reasoning in history will be explored and to what extent they both help and hinder the pursuit of historical knowledge.
The role of reasoning allows us to deduce a “logical” explanation, in this case from historical fact and to decipher an explanation and if possible a conclusion of past events through means of a rational approach. When unravelling truth in areas of knowledge such as in history it is said that this process should be governed by ‘the thought that reason rules the world’ (Hegel). This is very important because to try and reason facts and evidence into historical knowledge and objective perspective must be taken. Thus, reasoning creates a historical record and only through reasoning can we try to gain a valid conclusion of a certain event. Through both deductive and inductive reasoning, history considers the evidence and facts and rationally deduces a truthful conclusion of the events. Reasoning is needed in the search for historical knowledge because it is the most reliable out of the four ways of knowing and only through reasoning we can try to gain a
Bibliography: Anon, Anon. "Hegel 's Thoughts on Reality." Think Quest. 1998. Think Quest, Web. 2 Dec 2009. <http://library.thinkquest.org/18775/hegel/realh.htm>. Sowa, Jonathon. "Theories, Models, Reasoning, Language and Truth." jfsowa. 14 Dec 2005. John F Sowa, Web. 10 Dec 2009. Orwell, George. 1984. Penguin Books, 1949. Print.