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| R. G. Collingwood, philosopher & historian |
As someone who became infatuated with "history" as a kid, I was often puzzled about why so many of my classmates found the subject--and history classes in particular--boring. The following quote, by one of the most profound persons to have ever written about history as a discipline and as a subject, provides a concise statement that I believe identifies the source of the problem. We (and often history teachers) don't know what history is "about" and what (rightly done) it attempts to accomplish. Professor Collingwood:
A man [sic] who was taught history badly when he was at school, and has never worked at it since, may think there is nothing in it except events and dates and places: so that wherever he can find events and dates and places, he will fancy himself in the presence of history. But anyone who has ever worked intelligently at history knows that it is never about mere events, but about actions that express the thoughts of their agents; and that the framework of dates and places is of value to the historian only because, helping to place each action in its context, it helps him to realize what the thoughts of an agent operating in that context must have been like.
R. G. Collingwood. The Principles of History: And Other Writings in Philosophy of History (pp. 61-62). Kindle Edition.
N.B. Any lawyer who prepares a case for trial engages in a quest similar to that of the historian.
