The Use of History

The question of what we define history as has shaped debate between philosophers and scholars for centuries. The common, dictionary definition of history is simply “the study of past events”, but there has long existed conflict on whether that definition should be expanded to a higher art that helps us understand the world better, or whether it should be considered a lower form of study that simply entails detailing lists of people, events, objects, etc. I’ve personally always considered history a very important field of study, because of its ultimate potential to create world peace, but have been disappointed by its lack of usage in the higher levels of governments around the world. It seems we’ve made the exact same mistakes for decades without once realizing we’re wrong. The quote I’m going to explore today is by Leopold von Ranke, renowned German 19^th century historian, and the man considered the father of source-based historical analysis. He stated “You have reckoned that history ought to judge the past and to instruct the contemporary world as to the future. The present attempt does not yield to that high office. It will merely tell how it really was.” Von Ranke believed that history should be an academic pursuit dedicated to the goal of guiding our future, and he dedicated his life to making the analysis of history a formal, scholarly field of study. From his perspective, history was simply a listing of past events, and not yet the yielding “to that high office”. But were his attempts successful? History is now more accurate and meticulously researched than ever before, but is it being used to its potential to guide our leaders in their decision making? Some believe history will never be a useful area of knowledge, while others have thought it essential.

Famous American inventor and industrialist Henry Ford once said “History is more or less bunk.” As we can see, he didn’t believe in history at all. To Ford, history was essentially a branch of knowledge that was completely useless, and served no practical purpose. As an inventor, Ford was no doubt a pragmatic man, who judged things based purely on their function, and he must have believed that history served no higher function. Despite his brusqueness, I believe Ford had a valid viewpoint. In the 20^th century, history had evolved to a scholarly field of knowledge, but it didn’t have the impact on the daily lives of citizens at that time as other fields of study. Even now, it can be argued that history’s impact is limited to instructing children on what happened decades ago; we are not using history to its full potential, and even today dictators run cruel regimes that reflect the monstrosities of the Holocaust, with no intervention from other nations.

Roman philosopher Cicero, on the other hand, was an ardent supporter of history. He stated “History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity.” Obviously, Cicero had an extremely high opinion of history, despite the fact that he lived thousands of years ago. Cicero believed in history as a frame of reference on which to base our timeline; he was convinced that it helped us better understand our day to day lives, providing guidance and boosting our thought processes. History, for Cicero, was a tool that served as a relic of bygone days. Cicero wasn’t wrong either. History has served those purposes throughout history (no pun intended), and I believe it still does from time to time. Despite us not realizing its full potential, history has served us usefully and deserves its status as an academic pursuit.

While Ford's ruthless words against history might go against the beliefs of von Ranke, I believe both Cicero and von Ranke were correct in recognizing the uses history could serve. I believe history is an area of knowledge worth investing in, but still hope that it is put to a use greater than educating children on facts that will serve them no purpose but as a frame of reference on which to understand current events.