My last conversation was with the text of Robert Darnton’s “Worker Revolt”. Darnton is a post-modern historian, which entails a great deal of controversial and thought provoking positions. I wrestled with these post-modern beliefs all of yesterday evening and this morning when I was working on a historiographical framework assignment for my history capstone class.
One of the questions that has been running through the conversation of my mind has been: how do we Know things with certainty? As a historian, all we have are account of other people talking about the past, with no possible capability of experiencing the event as the event is in the past. The events which we seek to know are in the past and all we have are human accounts of them, and humans are fallible.
Along with doubt of certain knowledge, consideration of the present is another important part of the post-modern condition. We as humans existing right now are living in the present moment. We are at a point interpolated between the beginning of history and before the (a?) end. How can we know the direction and meaning of history without knowing the end?
These are the questions that I am seeking answers and meaning from in my own conversations.
Do you have a Winyou anecdote?
We may think we know with certainty. But I still
hold to my opinion there is no Truth, and even
the obvious can be questioned.
(I’m still pondering your response.)
I probably shouldn’t be surprised post-modern history exists. But
I’m not familiar. I’m sure I’ve read parts of The Kiss of Lamourette,
but I can’t remember when exactly. Grad school.
How do we know there was a history before the invention of writing?