Mediaeval Christian Historians

1. Mediaeval Christian Historians • Introduced idea that historical process is moving • Teleological view of history – meaning and purpose given to history, although not secular • Attainment of goal of history would mean the end of history • History is the fulfillment of God’s will • God has foreknowledge of each event in history: PREDESTINATION

2. The Enlightenment • Enlightenment values – teleological view but secularised the goal • History is progress towards the goal of perfecting man’s estate on earth

3. Immanuel Kant • History is the unfolding of the rational plan resident in nature • There is a natural order and purpose in nature, hence there is order and purpose in the nature of man’s reason and will • The establishment of a permanent social order is the highest task set for man by nature

4. G W F Hegel • The Dialectic: each event (thesis) generates its opposite (antithesis) resulting in a synthesis that absorbs both in a higher unity. This is the way history progresses • Man is not necessarily aware of this process, but his (rational) action fulfils this purpose (compare with Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’ theory) • Hence progress is inevitable

5. Karl Marx • History is the record of class conflict • This passes through four stages until it reaches the fifth (desirable) stage of the socialist communist state

6. Five stages of history • Stages of history: • Primitive: the original communist state that was ended by the rise of private property • King-Slaves: the struggle between kings and slaves led to aristocracy • Feudal: the struggle between nobles and serfs led to capitalism • Capitalism: the struggle between owners and workers leads to socialism • The Socialist Communist State!

7. Oswald Spengler • Cyclical view of history where cultures mature and decline through a cycle of four epochs (rise and fall) • Childhood: agriculture and conquest • Youth: expansion and discovery • Maturity: cities and commerce • Old age and death: quantity not quality, utility not art, skepticism not optimism

8. Arnold Toynbee • Rejected Spengler’s theory of rise and fall • Instead, the meaning of historical events is interpreted in terms of challenge and response • Civilisations are the result of a successful set of responses to the challenges faced by society

9. E.H. Carr • “When we attempt to answer the question ‘What is history?’ our answer, consciously or unconsciously, reflects our own position in time, and forms part of our answer to the broader question what view we take of the society in which we live.” (E.H.Carr, What is History?, p.8)

10. Economics Politics/Power Technology Ideology/Beliefs Culture, i.e. Religion, Values Social: Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Class Environment Psychology/Emotion Sexuality 20th century interpretations Many models of interpretation gained (and lost) popularity:

11. Your task • To integrate knowledge of theories that have preceded you to provide the most considered response to a certain series of events • Most historians no longer rely on one method of analysis, but give some sort of hierarchy to their choice of causes • However, you may still hear a historian being described as ‘Marxist’ or ‘feminist’ – this is something to be aware of

12. Developed by: • Roomana Chana • The City School Senior Sukkur