Objectivity Vs Relativity

7 Pages 1819 Words

ile Author Schlesinger was being derogatory in describing Carl Becker’s Declaration of Independence, this statement very accurately sums up extreme, yet classic, objectivity. Classical objectivist historians ideally would wish to rise above the stream of time and view the one historical truth from a semi-omniscient position. It follows then that these objectivist historians would not appreciate the reaction against objectivity, spearheaded by Becker and Beard who believed that historians have a social as well as scholarly obligation (Novick 255).
The reaction against the objectivist school of history was that of the relativist view of history and historiography. In the relativist position, the historian does not at all remain detached, but instead has a close connection to the facts of history. History has a purpose and a use; it exists for man, not man for history. The use of history in the relativist school is to “provide an account of the past [that is] appropriate to society’s current needs.” (Novick 255) This is almost precisely the opposite of the objectivist school. In reaction to these claims the Objectivists went on to challenge that history needs to have no use while it is being written. The idea is that history, much like...