The HistoriansaTM Paradox: The Study of History in Our Time.by Hoffer New<|

The Historians' ParadoxThe Study of History in Our Time\nAuthor(s): Peter Charles Hoffer\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: New York University Press, United States\nImprint: New York University Press\nISBN-13: 9780814737156, 978-0814737156\nSynopsis\nHoffer argues for a new methodological philosophy of history that mitigates fallibility and paradox\n How do we know what happened in the past? We cannot go back, and no amount of historical data can enable us to understand with absolute certainty what life was like \""then.\"" It is easy to demolish the very idea of historical knowing, but it is impossible to demolish the importance of historical knowing. In an age of cable television pundits and anonymous bloggers dueling over history, the value of owning history increases at the same time as our confidence in history as a way of knowing crumbles. Historical knowledge thus presents a paradoxthe more it is required, the less reliable it has become. To reconcile this paradoxthat history is im.