Theory of Knowledge

What is history?

Hi Everyone!

     During the past few weeks, we finished our TOK section on Ethics and started studying history. Since I am one of two HL History Route Two students at my school, I knew that I would thoroughly enjoy learning about history from a TOK point of view. So far, our main concern has been what history really is. And, surprisingly, this uncovered a question I had made in the past: how come we never read about historical events from a perspective other than the ones in our history books? This question still baffles me to this day, but I did get an almost satisfying answer in class. The answer lies in Carr's book, "What is History?": "It used to be said that facts speak for themselves. This is, of course, untrue. The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in what order of context." (Carr, 9)

     What still disappoints me to this day is the fact that so much information has been left out of history books simply because it isn't considered important. I mean we rarely ever get a perspective from a minority during a historical event that may not pertain to them. If you've got any historical events that you want to share or any questions about my post, don't hesitate to comment!

- Jordyn K.