In the field of history, there are many different kinds of historical studies. These studies can be local, national, or supranational. The main question historians ask themselves is whether history belongs to the humanities or social sciences. There are certainly benefits to studying the past at a local level. The scale of the study also matters. History can take on a variety of perspectives, including social, cultural, or political. Here are some of the most common types of historical studies.
Narratives are a key part of history. Narratives typically describe a particular event or situation and explain how it came about. The goal of a narrative is to explain complex historical events, a process through which the individual actors affected the outcome. In other words, history is incomplete like mathematics, but there are a wide range of possible outcomes. And while history is often referred to as a scientific subject, it can be used to explain human behavior.
Koselleck’s work has made important contributions to philosophy of history. He has expanded the conceptual and critical theory of history. He has forged a new path through his work, including a discussion of the obligation of a historian to uncover the historical facts. Koselleck also argues that historical knowledge depends on a critical and conceptual analysis of human action. As such, history has been characterized by a variety of categories that have been shaped by our own conceptualization of the past.
Considering global diversity, we should be more inclusive of our history studies. The study of global diversity should be able to consider surprising patterns of development and the experiences of different regions. In the case of a region like Bali, we should expect to find that the social structure of that place is a complex one. The history of Bali, for example, reveals that the governance, symbol, and hierarchy of the island were incredibly complex. Geertz’s work also provides examples of how diverse historical accounts can help us understand the complexity of the region.
The philosophical traditions of empiricism and Anglo-American philosophy have addressed the issue of history, but have mostly avoided speculative history. Nonetheless, these two traditions have brought important questions to the table – about the epistemology and logic of historical knowledge. This is an important distinction to keep in mind. In addition to questions of logic, history studies have also sought to understand the nature of historical meaning. One of these questions is whether history is a science of the mind.
Historians study the past in order to shed light on the past and to draw lessons for the present. The goal of history is to answer questions like, “What happened here?” and “Why did that happen?” They also try to piece together complex narratives from historical sources, such as the race riot in Detroit in 1967. Historians also undertake substantial conceptual work to arrive at a common vocabulary for describing the past. In other words, historians try to understand the historical events that shaped our world and how they were perceived by different societies.