Historical Antirealism and the Past as a Fictional Model

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61988987%3A17250%2F19%3AA2001YZK" target="_blank" >RIV/61988987:17250/19:A2001YZK - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.organonf.com/journal/orgf-2019-26405/" target="_blank" >https://www.organonf.com/journal/orgf-2019-26405/</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.31577/orgf.2019.26405" target="_blank" >10.31577/orgf.2019.26405</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Historical Antirealism and the Past as a Fictional Model

Original language description

This paper focuses on the discipline of history, its methods, subject, and output. A brief overview of contemporary analytic philosophy of history is provided, followed by critical discussion of historical realism. It is argued that the insistence on the idea that historians inquire into the real past and that they refer to the actual past entities, events, or agents is widely open to sceptical objections. The concept of an abstract historical chronicle of past events which are explained or retold by historians is identified as misleading. The idea of historical antirealism is then introduced. It is argued that in the centre of historian’s attention are present phenomena that are identified as historical evidence and require historical explanation. Historical explanation consists of constituting an historical past—a fictional model that accounts for present data. The identification process of historical evidence and the discursive nature of historical enterprise are analysed and accompanied by several concrete examples. According to historical antirealism, historians are not interested in the real past, but in the present empirical data. In their pursuit of historical knowledge, they produce fictional models—an historical past. Lastly, several common caveats against historical antirealism are addressed. The historical antirealism is presented as a viable fictionalist account of the historical inquiry that is capable of avoiding sceptical attacks on historical method and it is argued that antirealism allows history to retain its worth as a distinctive kind of scientific discipline.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

60301 - Philosophy, History and Philosophy of science and technology

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2019

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Organon F

ISSN

1335-0668

e-ISSN

2585-7150

Volume of the periodical

26

Issue of the periodical within the volume

4

Country of publishing house

SK - SLOVAKIA

Number of pages

24

Pages from-to

635-659

UT code for WoS article

000505645800005

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85076460687