The Truth of History by C. Behan McCullagh - 9780415171113

Taylor & Francis

Modern relativism and postmodern thought in culture and language challenge the 'truth' of history. This book considers how historians, confined by argument of their own cultures, can still discover truths about the past. > \nModern relativism and postmodern thought in culture and language challenge the 'truth' of history. This book considers how all historians, confined by the concepts and forms of argument of their own cultures, can still discover truths about the past.\nThe Truth of History presents a study of various historical explanations and interpretations and evaluates their success as accounts of the past. C. Behan McCullagh contests that the variety of historical interpretations and subjectivity does not exclude the possibility of their truth. Through an examination of the constraints of history, the author argues that although historical descriptions do not mirror the past they can correlate with it in a regular and definable way.\nFar from debating in the abstract and a