历史学的社会功能研究

通过研究历史学功能,更好的认识历史、解释历史,为人类呈现最真实的史实,从而推动人类探索历史的欲望,推广历史到各个方面。     

论“历史的碎化”

当代西方史学研究领域越来越宽泛,研究课题日益多样化。西方部分史学研究者从历史研究领域极大拓展的现实中,深切地感受到自己正处身于“历史学爆炸的时代”,于是,就从“整体地把握人类社会历史”的观念出发,用“历史的碎化”来概括当代西方史学研究的现状,并就此提出质疑和批评。与此同时,中国学者在评介当代西方史学研究现状时,对于“历史的碎化”现象同样表示关注,尤其“整体地把握客观历史”的观念在中国史学界日益深入人心的今天,对此现象更是高度警觉,几乎众口一词地表示中国史学在发展过程中必须引以为戒。     

浅析语言修辞本身与历史学的真实性

历史学的科学性在于其客观性和真实性,而历史学的真实就像历史本身一样遥不可及。历史学家在试图揭示历史真实之前,就自动并预先地选择了一套虚构性的语言修辞表述方式。     

鲁滨逊的“新史学”思想

詹姆斯·哈维·鲁滨逊被认为是美国新史学派的倡导人。鲁滨逊在批判传统史学的同时,明确提出:历史学并非一门枯燥的、孤立的学科,必须扩大历史研究的范围;应推翻历史学与其他学科之间的固有壁垒,引进和借鉴其他学科的理论和方法;既要重视史料的搜集,又提倡发挥历史研究主体的能动性;重视历史学的社会功用和实用价值,提倡一种"可用的历史"。鲁滨逊所开创的美国新史学派风靡全美,为现代美国史学的多学科综合性研究奠定了坚实的基础。     

“第三届历史学前沿论坛”会议综述

<正>"第三届历史学前沿论坛"于2009年12月12-13日在天津召开,此次会议由中国社会科学院主办,中国社会科学杂志社《历史研究》编辑部、南开大学历史学院和天津市历史学学会所承办。论坛以"历史记忆与失忆:价值选择与史学功能"为主题,旨在关注史学研究中具有学科影响的宏观性、前沿性和前瞻性问题,以此来为历史学的学科发展提供理论性的思考与     

何谓“历史解释”?——以“亨佩尔-德雷论战”为讨论中心

"亨佩尔-德雷论战"是历史哲学学术史上的一段公案,围绕什么样的解释才是历史学中的解释来展开,是战后英语世界关于历史学性质的论争。20世纪40年代,亨佩尔提出科学解释的一般形式,即"覆盖律模式",认为历史学作为一门研究过去的经验科学,同自然科学一样,都意在寻求现象和事件的原因与规律,两者在方法论上并无不同之处;德雷则与之针锋相对,认为历史学研究的对象是过往的人类行动,而行动有着不同于事件的自由意志面向,自然科学中的因果性和规律性解释并不能照搬到历史学,进一步提出历史解释中的"合理行动原则"。唐纳德·戴维森在两者之间独辟蹊径,提出历史解释的整体论方案,在一定程度上满足了历史学中的合理性解释,又辩护了历史学的客观性。     

“过秦”和“宣汉”——对史学社会功能思考之一

一、人类智慧和向上力的一种显示历史学,作为总结人类社会发展演进过程的一门学科,它的重大社会功能之一,就是通过反思人类自身的历史经验,帮助确定解决现实困难问题的对策,以有力地推动社会前进。近年来史学界在讨论包括史学社会功能在内的许多理论问题时,注意引进国外的理论,这无疑有益于推进我们的认识;与此同时,我们还应重视发扬本民族优良的史学遗产,重视发挥我国当代史学家独创性的论点,这对于活跃学术空气和丰富史学理论同样意义重大。在中华民族进化史上,各个时代的有识之士在观察处理现实问题的关键时刻,都曾自觉地把反思历史作为行动决策的参照物,“以史为鉴”,取得了不少有价值的经验。这是人类智慧和向上     

论“考古资料的历史学索隐”——也谈方法学问题

自20世纪古史辨派兴起以来,对中国古代史的审视和重构就一直是学界的重大问题。由于文字资料的不详和古代史学系统的不完善,越来越多学者认为考古学是重构中国上古史的基础和依赖。但是,考古出土的多是具体的实物,用来观察古代的物质、技术层面的问题比较容易,认识制度、意识层面的问题则十分困难。因此,如何把考古资料与历史资料相结合,如何进一步发掘考古资料更深层次的价值,是值得学界关注的问题。本文从考古学角度结合礼制,对杜正胜提出的中国国家社会形成标志进行了评析,认为其未充分把握礼制与社会背景之间的关系,其总结的规则缺乏深意也无可操作性,体现了作者广阔的学术视野和思维空间。礼制是一复杂的问题,甚至是可以容纳整个社会运行规则的问题,必须进行更充分的说明,才能为反驳提供更坚实的基础。一个重要问题,考古学与历史学问题。在中国讨论考古学与历史学的关系,必须考虑中西考古学和史学的差异,我们看到,西方的埃及学、亚述学是由考古学建立起来的学问,用考古资料复原历史,史学是依靠考古学建立起来的,甚至可以包含在考古学之内。中国则有丰富的古代文字资料和完整的史学系统,可以为考古学的研究提供定位和参考,离开历史学,考古学无法复原中国古代历史。     

“面向未来，构建中国史话语体系”学术研讨会综述

<正>2023年5月31—6月2日,由《中国史研究》编辑部主办、河北师范大学历史文化学院承办的“面向未来,构建中国史话语体系”学术研讨会在河北石家庄召开,来自全国多家高校和科研院所的专家学者40余人参会。兹将会议内容择要综述如下。一、构建中国史学话语体系的研究。于沛《走出历史学,回归历史学——对构建有中国特色的史学理论与史学史话语体系的思考》强调了历史研究对社会现实问题的关照和史学研究者的社会责任感问题,     

“历史”释义

本文通过对于汉字“历”和“史”,汉字词组“历史”之字源、词源,及其意义之演变的考订,对“历史”的意义作了新的诠释。“历”字之初形初义,以足行经过禾间,表示有序有度的时间经过;“史”字之初形初义,以手持猎具表示事情。“历史”一词的初义,是历代史书;近代以来,发展出学问、教学科目、过去了的事情之过程等诸种意义。汉字“历史”一词,可以规范成为关于历史和历史学的恰切的文字表述,其所表达的时间、事情、空间和人的意义,已经大体上涵盖了历史学的基本要素,这就为史学史和史学思想的发展奠定了坚实的语言文字基础,也包藏着建立汉字系统的历史学理论之深厚的可能性。     

Telling small stories: spaces of knowledge and the practice of geography

This article examines how the practice of learning geography, and the arenas in which knowledge-making takes place, can be usefully positioned within changing histories of the discipline. It contends that networks of action – understood through the intersection of social sites, subjects and sources – present a conceptual framework and narrative focus for the re-consideration of specific episodes from geography's past. The interventions made here are informed and illustrated by a 'small story' about the doing of geography. Based on different personal accounts, the story revives a series of events, encounters, dialogues and images dating back to the winter of 1951 at Glenmore Lodge, Scotland. This educational institution in the Cairngorm mountains offered children from urban areas the opportunity to learn field studies and the skills of 'outdoor citizenship'. Initially, the focus falls on Margaret Jack, a 14-year-old field-course participant. Her learning experiences are traced through personal letters, a diary and a field journal dating from that time, and her recent recollections of this event. Margaret's account dovetails with the story of her field studies instructor, Robin Murray. Robin's role is traced through his learning experiences as a geography undergraduate at Aberdeen University, and the recent recollections of Catriona Murray, his wife.     

Das Wissen der Schulden. Recht,Kulturtechnik und Alltagserfahrung im liberalen Kapitalismus

The Knowledge of Debt: Law, Media Technique, and Everyday Experience in Liberal Capitalism. Performing an object such as ‘the economy’ hinges on practices of formatting knowledge. The article proposes to look at such instituting moments in connection with social conflicts over the legitimate rules of exchange. This is exemplified by way of recounting the story of the codification of Swiss bankruptcy law in 1889. In order to homogenize the legal procedures of debt collection and bankruptcy, two subject categories were instituted: ‘merchants’ and ‘non-merchants’. These different categories were thought to account for the diverging temporalities and spaces of credit exchange in everyday economic life. The introduction of the commercial register, a media-technical apparatus, enabled a formal distinction between ‘merchants’ and ‘non-merchants’. However, this boundary was contested and proved to be porose.     

Two radiocarbon dates for freshwater shells from hierakonpolis: Archaeological and geological interpretations

Shells of two species of freshwater bivalve (Unio willcocksi Bullen Newton and Etheria elliptica Lamarck) from the predynastic Gerzean (Nagada II) Decorated Tomb at Hierakonpolis, Egypt have given dates of 5000±90 bp for the tomb, and 12,900±120 bp for an episode of Nile terrace accumulation (correlated here with the Sahaba-Darau aggradation event). The archaeological and geological significance of these results is discussed, together with an outline of problems associated with radiocarbon dating of shell. Comparisons are made with the few other radiocarbon dates available for the Predynastic period in Egypt and possible reasons for the presence of shells in the tomb are considered.     

Some chronological implications of a fossil molluscan assemblage from a neolithic site at Brook,Kent, England

The later post-glacial history of a valley in the chalk escarpment near Brook, Kent, is described, based on molluscan stratigraphy, archaeological evidence and radio-carbon dating. Differences in size and colour banding, respectively, of fossil and living representatives of two species of land snails, Pomatias elegans (Müller) and Cepaea nemoralis (L.), are correlated with climatic change during the post-glacial period. The problems of the use of fossil shells of these species as samples for radiocarbon dating are discussed.     

China's Dynamic Industrial Sector: The Internet Industry

A Singapore-based economic geographer explores and analyzes the spatially uneven evolution of the Internet industry in China, arguing that the country's immense regional disparity in the provision of Internet services is best explained by the interplay of place- and path-dependence. The author demonstrates how the highly uneven regional endowments in relevant industrial and entrepreneurial resources have led to the substantial and persistent regional imbalance within China's emerging "new economy." His initial survey of the country's 100 leading Internet content providers (firms), identified from a listing of ca. 11,700 commercial websites, is selectively augmented to reflect an increase of over 70 million Internet users in 2007, reaching a total of 253 million in June 2008, and thus overtaking the United States as the world's largest Internet market. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: L10, L86, O30. 6 figures, 1 table, 53 references.     

The 1911 International Exposition in Rome: architecture, archaeology, and national identity

This paper discusses the 1911 International Exposition in Rome and illustrates how this patriotic celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Italian Sate utilized symbolic landscapes of architecture and archaeology to promote nationalist sentiments of italianità and romanità centered on the young capital of Rome. Through modern art exhibitions at the Valle Giulia, scientific conferences at the Castel Sant’Angelo, archaeological exhibits on the Roman Empire in the Baths of Diocletian, and regional Italian pavilions in the Piazza d’Armi, exposition officials offered a complex representation of Italian national identity that was modern yet ancient, cosmopolitan yet bucolic, European yet regional, and imperial yet developing.     

The Rise and Fall of Alexander the Great – The Need for Medical Analysis: Reply to Commentaries

Alexander the Great died in 323 B.C. from an unknown cause. By elucidating the nature of his death, we can better interpret various aspects of Alexandrian history. Alexander’s death may have ensued from the sequelae of a congenital scoliotic syndrome. It would therefore be of significance to note that one of the greatest leaders in history who conquered much of the then known world may have been suffering from a physical disability.     

The Chemists' Style of Thinking

Der Denkstil der Chemiker. Der Aufsatz diskutiert die Tragfähigkeit des Begriffes “Denkstil”, wie er von Alistair Crombie eingeführt und Ian Hacking aufgegriffen wurde, für das Verständnis dessen, wie das Fach Chemie historisch seine Identität ausgeprägt hat. Obwohl weder Crombie noch Hacking den Begriff “Denkstil” in Bezug auf einzelne Disziplinen verwendet haben, erscheint im Fall der Chemie seine Anwendung besonders vielversprechend, weil er hier hilft, ein zentrales Problem zu thematisieren – nämlich die Frage, wie es Chemikern trotz wechselnder Gegenstandsbereiche und theoretischer Umbrüche gelang, eine eigenständige und stabile Identität auszubilden. Nach einer Einführung in den Begriff “Denkstil”, argumentiert der Aufsatz, dass die Beständigkeit der Chemie als eines Faches wesentlich in ihren Laborpraktiken gründet, die ihrerseits wiederum die spezifische Art der Fragen bestimmten, die Chemiker in ihren Forschungen stellten bzw. die Form der Antworten, nach denen sie suchten. Folgende Merkmale kennzeichnen diesen “chemischen Denkstil” (1) eine spezifische, im Herstellen begründete Form des Wissens, (2) die Befassung mit einzelnen Stoffen und Materialien statt mit Materie im Allgemeinen und (3) eine Beobachtung von Natur besonders im Hinblick auf Transformationsprozesse. The Chemists' Style of Thinking. This paper discusses the relevance of the notion of “styles of scientific thinking” introduced by Alistair Crombie and revisited by Ian Hacking, for understanding how chemistry shaped its identity. Although neither Crombie nor Hacking applied this notion to individual disciplines, it seems appropriate to use it in the case of chemistry because it helps to address a puzzling issue: how did chemists manage to shape an identity of their own, despite shifting territories and theoretical transformations? Following a presentation of the notion of style, I will argue that the stable identity of chemistry is rooted in laboratory practices, which determined the specific questions that chemists put to nature as well as the answers to their questions. The “chemical style of thinking” is characterized by i) a specific way of knowing through making, ii) the concern with individual materials rather than matter in general and iii) a specific commitment to nature.