How can written history be free from biases?
2007-04-26 02:47:59 · 6 answers · asked by †mustang† 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
It can't. "History is written by the victors." Even those who are attempting to write objectively or simply list facts have their own biases which will come out in what they cover if nothing else.
2007-04-26 07:01:17 · answer #1 · answered by Amethyst 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Greek historian Herodotus is often called the 'Father of History'. But he is also known as the 'Father of Lies'.
When historians write, they do so from their own point of view. This point of view is influenced by their understandings, their experiences, their biases, attitudes. This has always been since Herodotus started writing history.
History is not about facts - but how those facts are interpreted by the person reading it. That there is alot of bias and different view points is evidenced by the amount of papers written by critics that emerge to counter it. You can bet thousands of dolalrs that everytime someone writes a historical book or article - there will be 10 people ready to criticise it.
But History is not only written about people - its written by people - people who can be biased just like the rest of us.
Having a phd or a degree does not alter the fact that these same historians are human - and do make mistakes.
2007-04-26 03:13:48 · answer #2 · answered by Big B 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It cannot be. This is one of the great lessons on learning history, is that it is all biased, textbooks included. If you look at a high school US History textbook for example, you will see that there is a conscious effort, not to tell history, but to make sure that every power group in politics is included: There's a Hispanic, women's, Native American, African-American, Asian, inclusion in every single modern section. Everything has to be included. In California right now there is a move to make sure gays are included in textbooks, not because of what they did back in history but rather for who they are today.
Someone once suggested, we do not read literature (you can replace literature here with the word history) the way it is, but rather the way we are ...
2007-04-26 02:51:27 · answer #3 · answered by John B 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It can't. The key is to use a variety of different sources, each with a different point of view, then use your own critical thinking skills to come up with as unbiased an interpretation as possible.
2007-04-26 02:56:24 · answer #4 · answered by gryffindorgrad91 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It can never be. Even if you sincerely try it. That is why you should always look at more than one source.
2007-04-26 04:03:50 · answer #5 · answered by dimitris k 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
who said it could?
2007-04-26 02:51:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋