History and Truth (PDF)

History and Truth deals with the epistemological premises and the objectivity of historical truth as well as the social conditioning of historical cognition. Both the problem of the model of cognitive relationship and the problem of truth are discussed in the context of true cognition.

Comprised of eight chapters, this book begins with an overview of historians' conflicting interpretations regarding the causes of the French Revolution to highlight the tendency of historians to differ in their visions of the historical process, resulting in different and sometimes even contradictory representations of one and the same fact. The discussion then turns to three models of the process of cognition (the cognitive subject, the object of cognition, and knowledge as the product of the process of cognition), as well as the concept of truth as a philosophical problem. Subsequent chapters focus on two concepts of history, namely, positivism and presentism; The class character of historical cognition; historicism and relativism; and the selection of historical facts. The book also considers why history is continuously written anew before concluding with an assessment of the objectivity of historical truth.

This monograph will be of interest to students, practitioners, and researchers in the fields of history, philosophy, and the social sciences.