History belongs to the humanities. In its center is a man (social manifestation of man, man as an individual in different historical epochs). The subject of historical science is all manifestations of the life of mankind, from the inception of society to the present. the main task - cognition (study and understanding) of the past of mankind - the knowledge necessary to understand the current state of human society and foresee its development in the future. Any branch of scientific knowledge goes through 2 stages: 1. The empirical period (collection of material). 2. Scientific reflection (science makes sense of itself). In history, the problem of the objectivity of scientific knowledge is sharply posed (political views affect the results of knowledge). Functions of history: educational, cognitive, cultural and educational, social and political. Main directions:

1) "New historical science" (30-s. French "school of annals", L. Fevri M. Blok) - total ("global") history, that is, a holistic history, synthetic, aimed at studying the history of people and individual human communities, all aspects of their life and work. The main methods (methodological revolution) are interdisciplinary (involving representatives of other social sciences in joint research work) and comparative (comparative historical, M. Blok) approaches. Feature (F. Braudel) - in contrast to the event-descriptive history and the explanation of past events by the action of universal laws, the main attention was paid to the selection and interpretation of such sources that allow us to study everything that makes up a person's life (“history of mentalities”).

2) "new social history" (80s) - history is understood as social interaction of people. Subdisciplines - "new working history", "women's history" (gender history), "peasant studies", "local" and "oral" history.

3) historical anthropology - historical reality is shown through the state and development of human consciousness.

4) "new cultural history" - a description of historical reality through the use of a culturological or sociocultural approach, methods of cultural anthropology, social psychology, linguistics.

5) "history of everyday life" - its subject of research is private life in various forms.

Basic approaches:

Formation approach - Marx-Engels-Lenin; historical process - with the change of economic formations (PO → slave → feudal lord → captain → commune); "+" Is easy to understand, the concepts are well developed, the economy is well studied, the general development is highlighted; "-" leads the communes to it, studying only through the economy, not all countries go through these stages

Civilizational approach - Danilevsky-Sorokin-Toynball; ist process - a change of civilizations that existed at different times in different territories (k. rus, m. rus, grew imp, ussr, rf); "+" In the center of attention of people, to-ra, studies the originality of civilians; "-" is difficult to understand, there is no consensus on the definition of civilization, you can drown in details.

Conclusion: the main one is the civ approach, but both have the right to life. Form is part of the CIV approach to studying economics.

Sources: written (narrative - chronicles, essays, memoirs; document - public, private). Material (movable - weapons, tools; immovable - cities, temples). Complex (monuments with inscriptions).

Introduction

History is one of the oldest sciences, it originated in Greece and is about 2500 years old. In ancient Greek mythology, the patroness of history is the muse Cleo, the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. The scroll and the slate stick in her hands are a symbol and guarantee that nothing should disappear without a trace. The ancients valued history very much and called it "magistra vitae" (teacher of life).

The original meaning of the word "history" goes back to the Greek "ioropia", which means "investigation", "recognition", "establishment". Thus, initially, "history" was identified with the way of recognizing, establishing true events and facts.

In Roman historiography, the meaning of history began to be perceived as a story about the events of the past, that is, the center of gravity was shifted from the study of the past to the story of it. During the Renaissance, a third meaning of the concept of "history" emerges. History began to be understood as a kind of literature, the special function of which was to establish and fix the truth.

1. History of origin

history social scientific

History has not been considered as an independent field of knowledge, especially scientific, for a long time. In the 6th century, such a concept arises as historians-lagographers - the authors of the first historical works. One of them was Herodotus (5th century BC). It is he who is considered today the father of history. Herodotus came from Halicarnassus, a Dorian city located in the southwest of Asia Minor in Caria. In his youth, Herodotus, after the defeat of his "party" in the political struggle against the tyrant Halicarnassus, fled to the island of Samos, from where he subsequently made a number of travels to several lands known to the Greeks at that time. Presumably, he traveled a part of Asia Minor and the Middle East, visited Egypt, visited some cities of the Hellespont, Macedonia, Thrace, perhaps reaching the Northern Black Sea region, and also visited, of course, a number of policies in Balkan Greece itself. Finding himself around 445 BC. - 444 BC in Athens, Herodotus gave public readings there, for which he was awarded by the Athenian people an incredibly large sum of 10 talents. Having gone along with other colonists to the common Greek colony of Furia, Herodotus may have visited some more cities of Magna Graecia. Around the middle of the 420s, Herodotus died in the same Furies, leaving behind a single work - "History".

However, history has not been considered for a long time as an independent area of \u200b\u200bknowledge, especially scientific knowledge. She did not have her own subject during the period of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and even during the Enlightenment. How is this fact consistent with the rather high prestige and widespread prevalence of historical knowledge? How to connect it with a huge number of works containing historical information, from Herodotus and Thucydides, through countless medieval chronicles, chronicles and "lives", to the historical research of the beginning of modern times? This is explained by the fact that history has been integrated into the general system of knowledge for a long time. In the era of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, it existed and developed in combination with mythology, religion, theology, literature and, to some extent, with geography. During the Renaissance, she was given a powerful impetus by geographical discoveries, the flowering of art, political theories. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. history was associated with political theory, geography, literature, philosophy, culture.

The need to isolate scientific knowledge proper began to be felt from the time of the natural science revolution (XVII century). However, even at the beginning of the 19th century, the "indivisibility" of "philosophical" and scientific knowledge, on the one hand, and science itself by disciplines, on the other, continued to persist.

One of the first attempts to define the place of history as a scientific discipline with its own subject was undertaken by the German philosopher V. Krug in his work "Experience of a systematic encyclopedia of knowledge." The circle divided the sciences into philological and real, real - into positive (legal and theological) and natural, natural - into historical and rational, etc. In turn, the "historical" sciences were subdivided into geographic (place) and historical (time) disciplines.

At the end of the XIX century. French philosopher A. Naville divided all sciences into three groups:

1. "Theorematics" - "sciences about the limits of possibilities or about laws" (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, sociology).

2. "History" - "science about realized opportunities or facts" (astronomy, geology, botany, zoology, mineralogy, history of mankind).

3. "Canon" - "the science of possibilities, the realization of which would be a blessing, or about ideal rules of behavior" (morality, art theory, law, medicine, pedagogy).

2. The subject of history as a science: purpose, objectives of the study, socially significant functions

history social scientific

The study of any science begins with the definition of the concepts with which it operates in the process of cognition of both nature and society. From this point of view, the question arises: what is history as a science? What is the subject of her study? Answering this question, first of all, it is necessary to distinguish between history as any process of development of nature and society, closely related to each other, and history as a science about these processes.

Considering history as a science in the development of human society in all its diversity, it is necessary to represent a set of specific and diverse actions and deeds of individuals, human communities that are in a certain relationship, constituting all of humanity, the subject of history study is the activities and actions of people, the whole set of relations in society.

The famous Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky wrote about history as a science in the following way: “In the scientific language, the word“ history ”is used in a double sense: as a movement in time, a process, and as cognition of a process. Therefore, everything that takes place in time has its own history. The content of history, as a separate science, a special branch of scientific knowledge, is the historical process, i.e. course, conditions and successes of human community or the life of mankind in its development and results "(VO Klyuchevsky. Course of Russian history. Moscow, 1956. T. I. Part I. P. 14).

Historians study their subject in time diversified, in parts, from different angles. Disorder, fragmentation, unevenness, "white spots" and "gray niches" of the past - such is the canvas of historical time. But historical knowledge as a whole allows, when necessary, to shift your gaze and see all the diversity of the “world of history”, structures and connections, events and actions, the existence of peoples and the everyday life of heroes and “little” people, everyday consciousness and global outlook.

Due to the fact that the content of historical science is the historical process that is revealed in the phenomena of human life, and these phenomena are extremely diverse, respectively, history is a diversified science, it is composed of a number of independent branches of historical knowledge, namely: political history, civil history, cultural history, military history, history of state and law, etc.

History is also subdivided according to the breadth of study of the object: history of the world as a whole (world or general history); history of world civilizations; history of continents (history of Asia and Africa, Latin America); history of individual countries and peoples (history of the USA, Canada, China, Russia, etc.).

A number of auxiliary historical disciplines have also developed, which develop general questions of the methodology and technique of historical research. Among them: paleography (history of writing), numismatics (coins, orders, medals), toponymy (studying the names of geographical places), source studies (general techniques and methods of studying historical sources), etc.

History is a concrete science, requiring exact knowledge of chronology (dates), facts, events. It is associated with other humanities and social sciences. These relations in different periods evolved in different ways, but the largest representatives of historiography have always believed in the "common market" of social sciences. This belief continues today. The interpenetration and mutual enrichment of the social sciences, the so-called interdisciplinarity, is a phenomenon characteristic of the 20th century. It is due to the delimitation of the social sciences, their separation into independent areas of knowledge, as a result of which the process of division of labor and specialization was accompanied by deepening interconnections.

History, as well as other humanities and social sciences late XIX-XX centuries. did not escape the influence of psychology. They were very popular at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. G. Le Bon's books "The Psychological Laws of the Evolution of Nations" (Le Bon. 1894) and "The Psychology of Nations and Masses" (Le Bon. 1895), which substantiated the assumption of the entry of European society into the "era of the crowd", when a rational critical beginning, embodied in the personality, suppressed by the irrational mass consciousness. Austrian psychologist Z. Freud believed that his concept of the "subconscious" could be the key to understanding historical figures, and Freud's Essay on Leonardo da Vinci, written in 1910, was essentially the first experience of psychohistory.

The term "psychohistory" appeared in the 50s in the USA, where magazines on psychohistory were published at that time. Their heroes were such historical figures as Hitler, Trotsky, Gandhi, etc. Psychoanalysis had big influence to criticism of some historical sources - diaries, letters, memoirs.

On the whole, the flourishing of psychohistory turned out to be short-lived, and its possibilities were limited.

Today it is obvious to historians both the importance and the limitations of psychoanalysis's capabilities for their discipline. The areas where psychoanalysis can be effectively used are outlined quite clearly: the study of outstanding personalities, the study of cultural traditions. The task of synthesizing history and psychology, if it makes sense, is still a matter for the future.

Compared with other humanities and social sciences that study any one of the aspects of social life, history differs in that the subject of cognition is the entire totality of the life of society throughout the entire historical process. In addition, many of the problems of the past and the present, which are dealt with by political scientists, economists, sociologists, ethnologists and other specialists in the humanitarian and social cycle, can be solved only on the basis of a historical approach and historical analysis, on the basis of the work done by historians, because only the collection, systematization and generalization of a huge amount of factual material makes it possible to see and understand trends social development.

The main functions of the story are:

The cognitive (intellectually developing) function consists primarily in the concrete study of the historical path of development of human society (the history of world civilizations), in the theoretical generalization of facts and events, as well as in identifying the main trends in the history of the development of world civilizations and their features, which are reflected in historical sources ...

The ideological function is that the worldview - a view of the world, society, the laws of its development can be scientific only when it relies on objective reality, that is historical facts, the foundation on which the science of society is based. One of the most important worldview aspects of the study is the formation of historicism in thinking, because it teaches us to think in historical categories, see society in development, evaluate the phenomena of social life in relation to their past and correlate with the subsequent course of development.

The practical-political function is that history, revealing on the basis of theoretical comprehension of historical facts the patterns of development of human society, helps to develop a scientifically grounded political course, analyze and avoid subjective decisions. The educational function contributes to the formation of civic qualities, helps to realize such categories as honor, duty to society, good and evil, and in general the moral and ethical values \u200b\u200bof mankind in their development.

3. Periodization of world history

One of the important problems of historical science is the problem of the periodization of the development of human society. Periodization is the establishment of chronologically sequential stages in social development. The selection of stages should be based on decisive factors common to all countries or to leading states.

Since the development of historical science, scientists have developed many different options for the periodization of social development. To date, the periodization of world history is based on two principles: for the early periods of the formation of human society, the material from which the main tools of labor and the technology of their manufacture were made are fundamental. This is how the concepts of “ Stone Age"," Copper-Stone Age "," Bronze Age "," Iron Age ".

The dating of these periods is established using natural scientific methods (geological, dendrochronology, etc.). With the advent of writing in the history of mankind (about 5000 years ago), other grounds for periodization arose. It began to be determined by the time of existence of various civilizations and states that kept their account of time

Generally, world history it is customary to divide into four main periods:

1. The ancient world (the period from the separation of man from the animal world about 2 million years ago to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD).

2. Middle Ages (the period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance of the 16th century).

3. Modern times (from the Renaissance to 1918 - the end of the First World War).

4. Modern times (from 1919 to the present day).

4. Basic concepts (interpretation) of the historical process and methods of its cognition

For a long time, people have tried to understand the complex historical process. What are the stages of history? What are the laws of its development? Mankind is still solving these and other questions. At different times, different answers were given to them. The presence of different worldview positions has led to the presence of various concepts (from the Latin "conceptio" - understanding, system, a certain way of understanding) of world history.

The earliest ischristian interpretation (from the 4th-5th centuries to the middle of the 18th century). Its main problem is the question of the meaning and content of human earthly history. From the point of view of Christianity, the meaning of history lies in the consistent movement of mankind towards God, in the knowledge of the ultimate truth given to man in Revelation. The content of the historical process is the liberation of man, his transformation into a conscious historical figure. Thus, the “father of history” Herodotus considered the struggle between Asia and Europe to be the main content of the historical process, which by his time had resulted in a series of Greco-Persian wars. Historians of later times (Polybius, for example) considered the main result of the development of human civilization to be the assertion of the power of the Roman Republic throughout the Mediterranean. Part of the Bible - the book of the prophet Daniel - divided world history into periods of the existence of one or another empire that dominated the world.

The countdown of human history begins from the fall of Adami and Eve and their expulsion from paradise. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe end of history (end of the world), the timing of which is hidden from the human mind, is hushed up. The fact that different peoples live in different historical times is explained by the difference in the timing of the adoption of Christianity, in connection with which the main line of history (Christian peoples) and its dead-end lines (pagan periphery) are highlighted.

The Christian interpretation of history left an idea behind historical science world history... Currently, the works on Russian history by G. Florovsky, N. Kantorov, A. Nechvolodov - supporters of the Christian concept - have been republished.

With the beginning of modern times, the Christian concept was subjected to critical rethinking. Appearedrationalistic (world-historical) concept of history, which has found a philosophical-theoretical foundation and systematization in the philosophy of Hegel's history and the historical materialism of K. Marx.

The main problem of this concept is the relationship between the spiritual and the natural in the historical process. Both Hegel and Marx considered history to be universal, developing according to general and objective laws. Both thinkers are characterized by the thesis that the state is the most important social institution: as the present existence of a moral idea (Hegel) or as a political and legal superstructure over an economic basis (Marx). They are also united by the interpretation of historical knowledge - they include both a section related to the study of the factual side of history and a theoretical and methodological section: philosophy (Hegel) or sociology (Marx). However, Hegel interpreted world history with the help of the concept of “the spirit of the people”, which was relevant at that time. This spirit, according to Hegel, manifests itself in religion, art, science, the moral life of society, in the constitution, the state. In the historical process, Hegel brought to the forefront this or that people - the bearer of the absolute spirit. Hegel considered the Ancient East to be the starting point of world history. The epochs of the existence of the Ancient East, Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the New Age acted for Hegel as steps in world history. Throughout the history of mankind, Hegel pursued the idea of \u200b\u200bdevelopment, which manifested itself in how much society realized the idea of \u200b\u200bfreedom, how much it embodied this idea in law, state structure, etc. Marx opposed materialism to Hegel's idealism in explaining historical development.

Historical materialism, according to Engels, is “such a view of the course of world history, which finds the ultimate cause and the decisive driving force of all important historical events in the economic development of society, in changes in the mode of production and exchange, in the resulting division of society into different classes and in the struggle of these classes among themselves "(K. Marx, F. Engels, Collected works. T. 22, p. 306).

The mode of production of material life, according to Marx, determines the social, political and spiritual processes of life in general. It is not the consciousness of people that determines their being, but on the contrary, social being determines consciousness.

The concretization and further development of the Marxist understanding of history was the concept of a socio-economic formation.

The concept of a socio-economic formation in Marxism denotes qualitatively unique stages in the history of mankind. There are five such stages, or formations, in total: primitive communal, slave-owning, feudal, capitalist, communist. The transition from one socio-economic formation to another occurs as a result of a social revolution, at its heart is a conflict between productive forces and production relations. “At a certain stage of their development,” we read in Marx, “the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production, or — which is only a legal expression of the latter — with the property relations within which they have been developing so far. From forms of development of the productive forces, these relations turn into their fetters. Then the era of social revolution begins ”(K. Marx, F. Engels, Collected works, T. 13, p. 7).

It is in the successive change of formations that progress lies, the final result of which should be the establishment of a just world order. The new basis also gives rise to a new superstructure. Such a transition cannot take place without a struggle between people, classes (groups) of people, the more so as some classes are exploitative, while others are exploited. History, according to K. Marx, is all permeated with this struggle. Marx considered the class struggle to be the driving force of history, and the revolution as its "locomotives."

The strengths of the formation concept are:

1. Detailed development of the theory of the economic foundation (basis) of society.

2. Discovery of the laws of economic development, showing the internal connections of a social organism (formation);

3. Creation of a clear model of all historical development. With its appearance, the history of mankind appeared to society as an objective, natural, progressive process, in which the main stages and driving forces are visible.

The disadvantages of this concept include:

1. Well-known determinism, in which the freedom of choice of a person, a statesman is limited. Free will is considered only from the perspective of compliance with the main trends of socio-economic development or non-compliance with them.

2. Progress in Marxist teaching is viewed linearly, it does not have a reverse course.

Formation theory in general view was formulated by K. Marx as a generalization of the historical path of development of Europe. K. Marx, realizing the diversity of the world, saw that some states do not fit the formation model. Marx referred these countries to the so-called "Asian mode of production". However, in Europe, the development of some countries did not always fit into the scheme of five formations.

In the 20s - 30s of the XX century. Marx's theory in the USSR was simplified. A strict law was formulated for the change of socio-economic formations, which included the entire world development. Anything that did not fit into the formation model of development was considered historical features. The theory of three echelons of development of world capitalism was put forward. The developed states of the West were assigned to the first echelon, Russia - to the countries of the second echelon (catching up development). Many countries from the former colonies fell into the third echelon. The development of this theory reflected the desire to improve the concept of the formation approach.

Thus, the rationalistic (world-historical) interpretation of history was of great scientific importance for understanding historical development. But its inherent Eurocentrism made it difficult to a certain extent to reflect the multidimensionality, multivariance, and diversity of the historical process, and this led to the emergence of alternative concepts of historical development.

This is howcultural and historical interpretation of history.

The main structural unit of the historical process, from the point of view of this approach, is "civilization". The term "civilization" comes from the Latin root "civil" - state, city, civil. It was used in opposition to the word "silvaticus", which translated from Latin means forest, rough, wild. Originally the word "civilization" was used with three common meanings. The first is a synonym for culture, the second is the stage of social development following barbarism, and the third is the level, stage of social development of material and spiritual culture. Due to the universality and polysemy of this category, it is difficult to define. There are over a hundred definitions of "civilization". However, for this approach to the historical process, the understanding of “civilization” as an integral social system, all of whose components are closely interconnected, bear the stamp of the originality of a particular civilization, is of great importance. The system itself has an internal (independent) mechanism of functioning.

This approach was characteristic of the 19th century Russian thinker. N. Ya. Danilevsky (1822-1885), who wrote about civilization that “the main thing ... should be the difference between cultural and historical types, so to speak, independent, original plans of religious, social, everyday, industrial, political, scientific, artistic, in one word , historical development (Danilevsky N. Ya. Russia and Europe. M., 1991. S. 85).

The famous English historian and sociologist A. Toynbee (1889-1975) also represented civilization as an integral social system. “Civilizations,” he believed, “are wholes, parts of which are coordinated with each other and interdependent ... All aspects of the social life of a civilization that is in the stage of growth are coordinated into a single social whole, where economic, political and cultural elements are coordinated due to internal harmony” (Toynbee A.D. Comprehension of history. Vol. I, p. 34).

According to scientists, the essence of civilization, its originality determines a number of factors: the natural environment, the economic system, the political system and social organization of society, religion (or ideology, elevated to the rank of religion), spiritual values, mentality. At the same time, special attention is paid to mentality (mentality).

The famous German philosopher and historian O. Spengler (1880-1936), who published his book “The Decline of Europe” (Russian translation. Vol. I, 1923), began to develop his concept of historical development with a search for a solution to the problem of the method of cognition and the subject of history. .). What is the subject of history and in what language is the history book written? - the German thinker asks. Answering these questions, he develops the thesis that the subject of history cannot only be the laws of social development. The knowledge of history cannot be reduced only to the search for cause-and-effect relationships between phenomena and events. History deals with living forms of "being", and fate, elements of chance play a significant role in them.

The content of world history, according to Spengler, consists of the phenomena of separate, following one after the other, a number of growing, touching, shading and suppressing one another cultures.

Spengler was a passionate and committed advocate of the uniqueness and identity of different cultures. He viewed not only antiquity and Western Europe, but also India, Egypt, China, Babylon, Arab and Mexican cultures as changing manifestations and expressions of a single, centralized life. None of the cultures, according to Spengler, should not take an advantageous position. They all have the same meaning in the overall picture of history. According to Spengler, each individual culture is based on “its own great soul, its own ideal form, its own prototype, or pure type. O. Spengler believed that in all cultures the transition to civilizations was accompanied by revolutions of the poor, the emergence of egalitarian ideas, the establishment of dictatorial regimes.

"Living in, observing, comparing, immediate inner confidence, accurate sensual fantasy - these are, according to Spengler, the main means of historical research of cultures and their individual destinies."

The founders and followers of the historical school that had formed around the editorial office of the Annals of Economic and Social History (1929), the French historians F. Braudel (1886-1944), L. Febvre (1878-1956) saw the problems of world development in their own way. .).

Without attaching primary importance to historical patterns or accidents in explaining the phenomena of the past, they brought to the fore the factor of "environment" (historical time), which, in their opinion, is not measured by a measure of duration, but is like a plasma in which historical phenomena float and only in it, in this concrete historical "environment", they can be understood. French historians were primarily interested in life, everyday life, the mentality of peoples.

The problems of the civilizational approach to the knowledge of history worried in the XIX-XX centuries. not only foreign, but also domestic historians and philosophers. First of all, the original Russian thinker Danilevsky N.Ya. (1822-1885), who in the book "Russia and Europe" (1869) put forward his concept of world history. For Danilevsky, the fundamental, essential reality of history appears in the form of cultural and historical types - special, fairly stable communities or associations of peoples.

N. Ya. Danilevsky singled out such distinctive cultures as Egyptian, Indian, Babylonian, Iranian, Roman, Chinese, Germanic-Roman, Jewish, Greek, etc.

In each cultural-historical type, he noted certain stages of development, likening them to living organisms. With this approach, all cultural and historical types, as well as the peoples that make up them, "are born, reach various stages of development, grow old, decrepit and die." All cultural-historical types have a natural ambition, a tendency to expand the limits of their activities and their influence; historical instincts, that is, sympathies and higher moral principles that determine their life activity, the originality of the ultimate goal or fate. Relations between cultural and historical types, according to Danilevsky, are tough. They are permeated with the logic of mutual struggle, repression, discord. Collisions of nations are like storms and thunderstorms in nature. Strong and energetic cultural-historical types put to death decrepit, agonizing cultural-historical types.

However, the relationship between cultural and historical types is not limited to the logic of struggle. They are more multidimensional. Each cultural and historical type contributes to the diversely common civilizational life of mankind. The process consists not in "that everyone should go in one direction, but in the fact that the entire field that makes up the field of the historical activity of mankind should proceed in different directions."

According to Danilevsky, there are no and should not be privileged cultural and historical types in the world. Not a single civilization can claim to be the standard of human community. But each is unattainably great in one thing, in its own unique way - in terms of its historical fate, its spiritual origin, its ideas. Art, the development of the idea of \u200b\u200bbeauty - a distinctive feature of the Greek civilization; law and political organization - Roman; the advancement and the fullest development of the "idea of \u200b\u200bone true God" - the Jewish one; science of the nature of Germanic-Romanesque The Slavic civilization led by Russia, according to Danilevsky, is just developing, gaining a historical acceleration. But its goal has already become quite definite - a just structure of the socio-economic life of people.

The strengths of the civilizational method are:

1. "Humanizing history". Man is the beginning and end of history. This is the main advantage of this method.

2. Its universality, for it is focused on the knowledge of the history of society, taking into account countries and regions. Its principles apply to the history of any country or group of countries. This makes it possible to better understand the historical processes, their features, helps to identify the intrinsic value of each society, its place in world history and culture.

3. Its most important advantage is the idea of \u200b\u200bhistory as a multivariate, multi-line process.

4. Great importance for understanding the historical process is given to religion, culture, mentality of peoples, that is, spiritual, moral and intellectual factors.

But, like any theory, the civilizational approach has its weaknesses:

1. Universality, being an advantage of the theory, is at the same time a disadvantage, since these principles are actively working mainly at the “global level”, and the development of specific problems requires the use of other methods.

2. The weakness of this approach lies in the amorphousness of the criteria for identifying types of civilization. In some civilizations, the economic principle prevails, in others - the political, in the third - the religious, and in the fourth - the cultural.

3. Researchers face great difficulties when considering the issues of mentality (mentality) of peoples. Spiritual, moral, intellectual structures of mankind undoubtedly play a very important role, but their indicators are vague and hardly perceptible.

4. There is an insufficient development of the conceptual apparatus of this methodology. Suffice it to say that today there is no single criterion for defining such a basic category as “civilization”.

5. Development prospects

All this taken together allows us to conclude that both approaches - formational and civilizational - make it possible to consider the historical development of human society from different angles, from different sides.

Today, there are no special grounds to abandon many of the provisions of Marxism in understanding the historical process. In particular, the concept of "formation" has not lost its relevance, it is not worth just making it absolute. It cannot be argued that all peoples who have embarked on the path of civilizational development necessarily go through all five stages identified by Marx, but such a stage, for example, as feudalism, is generally recognized. The civilizational approach also has a full right to exist. For within the framework of one formation, several civilizations can exist simultaneously, and some civilizations exist, passing through several formation stages in their history.

Each of the approaches under consideration has strengths and weaknesses, but if you do not go to extremes, but take the best that is available in either methodology, historical science will only benefit.

Conclusion

Prospects for the development of history as a science can be concluded in the fact that humanitarian knowledge is one of the central sciences in the world. In it, various streams of information that come from all other branches of knowledge cross.

A person's belonging to nature, society, and culture is especially clearly manifested in the general laws of being, which are considered by philosophy and mathematics. From this we can conclude that the humanities have the most likely development prospects.

History as a science does not stand still, but inherently moves forward. Archives are being raised, excavations are underway, various studies are being carried out. All these events definitely advance science towards studying a person's past, predicting his future. Time does not stand still, and various political events are constantly taking place. Scientific and technological progress presents scientists with new opportunities in the study of finds: X-ray structural and radiocarbon analyzes, magnetoscopy, and other modern research methods. Such approaches advance the study of the past to a higher quality level and create all conditions for the further development of historical science.

The unity of the past, present and future is the root of peoples' interest in their history. The story is designed to facilitate self-awareness for society and a person and show the ways to self-improvement. The past does not disappear without a trace, it has no boundaries, it cannot be canceled. Forgetting it is a tragedy for subsequent generations, for human society cannot develop without a spiritual heritage. Without it, it is doomed to degradation.

To guide the activities of the present, it is necessary to assimilate the historical experience, knowledge and methods of thinking that have been developed by previous generations.

What is history?

The subject of the science of history and its place in the system of historical sciences

The study of the humanities is an important part of the general educational and ideological training of modern specialists and contributes to the intellectual development of the individual and the development of creative thinking. History is one of the most important social sciences.

History is the science of the past of human society and its present, of the laws governing the development of social life in specific forms, in spatio-temporal dimensions. The content of history in general is the historical process, which is revealed in the phenomena of human life, information about which has been preserved in historical monuments and sources. These phenomena are extremely diverse, relate to the development of the economy, the external and internal social life of the country, international relations, activities of historical figures.

Accordingly, history is a diversified science, it is composed of a number of independent branches of historical knowledge, namely: the history of economic, political, social, civil, military, state and law, religion, etc. Ethnography, which studies life and culture, also belongs to the historical sciences. peoples, and archeology, which studies history from material sources of antiquity - tools, household utensils, jewelry, etc., as well as whole complexes - settlements, burial grounds, treasures.

History is also subdivided by the breadth of the study of the object: history of the world in the whole (worldwide or general history), history of continents (e.g. history of Asia and Africa), history of individual countries and peoples or groups of peoples (for example, the history of Russia).

Exist auxiliary historical disciplines,having a relatively narrow subject of study, studying it in detail and thus contributing to a deeper understanding of the historical process as a whole. These include: chronology, studying time frames; paleography -handwritten monuments and ancient writing; diplomacy -historical acts; numismatics -coins, medals, orders, monetary systems, trade history; metrology -system of measures; flagology -flags; heraldry -coats of arms of countries, cities, individual families; sphragistics -print; epigraphy -inscriptions on stone, clay, metal; genealogy -the origin of cities and surnames; toponymy -origin of place names; local history -history of the area, region, region.

The most significant auxiliary historical disciplines are source studies, researching historical sources, and historiography, whose task is the description and analysis of the views, ideas and concepts of historians and the study of patterns in the development of historical science.

History is not only one of the two thousand existing sciences serving modern mankind, but also one of the most ancient. History is closely connected with other sciences, in particular, with psychology, sociology, philosophy, legal sciences, economic theory, mathematics, mathematical statistics, linguistics, literary criticism, etc. In contrast to them, it examines the process of development of society as a whole, analyzes the entire set of phenomena public life, all its aspects (economy, politics, culture, everyday life, etc.) and their relationship and interdependence. At the same time, each of the existing sciences (social, economic, technical) has passed its own history during the development of human society. And on the present stage all sciences and arts must include a historical section, for example, history of physics, history of music, history of cinema, etc. At the junction of historical and other sciences, interdisciplinary sciences are created, such as historical geography, historical geology, etc.

B) the functions of historical knowledge

History has several socially significant functions.

* First - cognitive, intellectually developing, consisting in the very study of the historical path of countries, peoples and in the objectively true, from the standpoint of historicism, reflection of all phenomena and processes that make up the history of mankind.

In scientific language, the word "history" is often used as a process, movement in time and as a process of cognition in time. The content of history, as a special branch of scientific knowledge, is the historical process.

It should be noted that human community is as much a part of world existence as the life of the nature around us, and its scientific knowledge is the same necessary need of the human mind as the study of the life of nature.

The historical process manifests itself in human life, the news of which has been preserved in historical monuments and sources. These phenomena are extremely diverse, relate to the external and internal life of the country, international relations, the activities of historical figures.

Thus, the cognitive function consists in the very study of the historical path of our country, the historical path of the people and in the objectively true, from the standpoint of historicism, reflection of all the phenomena and processes that make up the history of the Russian state. Striving for an objective knowledge of the history of the country, one must constantly check oneself by studying the chain of historical events in their integrity, in causality and results. Analysis of yesterday's mistakes will make it possible to avoid mistakes today and tomorrow.

At the same time, a comprehensive analysis of errors, the thoroughness of their study should not negate the huge positive work that our ancestors did.

* Second function - practical-political.Its essence is that history as a science, revealing on the basis of theoretical comprehension of historical facts the patterns of development of society, helps to develop a scientifically grounded political course, to avoid subjective decisions. The unity of the past, present and future is the root of people's interest in their history. Russian historian V.0. Klyuchevsky (1841-1911), defining the practical significance of knowledge of history, historical consciousness, noted: "Each nation, history sets a two-sided cultural work - over the nature of the country in which he is destined to live, and over his own nature, over his spiritual forces and social relations "(7, p. 61.).

To determine where and how a society should go in its development, it is necessary to know where from, from what state it came and how it passed its historical path.

Today life itself poses many questions for modern history. Determining the tasks and directions of our activities, each of us must be, to a certain extent, a historian in order to become a consciously and conscientiously acting citizen.

* Third function - ideological.The study of history directly affects the formation of the scientific worldview.

A worldview - a view of the world, society, the laws of its development - can be scientific if it is based on objective reality. In social development, objective reality is historical facts. History, its factual side, is the foundation on which the science of society is based. All supporters of dogmas and pseudoscience about society speculate on historical illiteracy, since, not knowing historical facts, people are forced to accept different ideological moods and hypotheses on faith.

In order for conclusions from history to be truly scientific, it is necessary to study all the facts relating to a given process or phenomenon, without exception, in their totality, only then can we get an objective picture adequate to reality, and therefore ensure the scientific nature of knowledge.

* The story has a huge educational influence.This is the fourth function of history. Knowledge of the history of one's people and world history forms civic qualities - patriotism and internationalism; shows the role of people and individuals in the development of society; allows you to know the moral and moral values \u200b\u200bof mankind in their development, to understand such categories as honor, duty to society, to see the vices of society and people, their influence on human destinies.

The study of history teaches us to think in historical categories, to see society in development, to evaluate the phenomena of social life in relation to their past and to correlate them with the subsequent course of events.

This approach creates the need to comprehend reality not in statics, but in the historical process, in chronological connection, in the dialectic of development.

History is a science that studies the characteristics of human activity in the past. It makes it possible to determine the causes of events that took place long before us and in our days. Associated with a wide variety of social disciplines.

History as a science has existed for at least 2500 years. Its founder is considered the Greek scientist and chronicler Herodotus. In ancient times, this science was appreciated and considered as a "teacher of life". In ancient Greece, she was patronized by the goddess Cleo herself, who was engaged in the glorification of people and gods.

History is not just a statement of what happened hundreds and thousands of years ago. This is not even only the study of processes and events that took place in the past. In fact, its purpose is larger and deeper. It does not allow conscious people to forget the past, but all this knowledge is applicable in the present and future. This is a treasure trove of ancient wisdom, as well as knowledge of sociology, military affairs, and much more. Forgetting the past means forgetting your culture, heritage. Also, mistakes that have ever been made should not be forgotten so as not to repeat them in the present and future.

The word "history" is translated as "investigation". This is a very apt definition,

borrowed from Greek. History as a science investigates the causes of events that took place, as well as their consequences. But this definition still does not reflect the whole essence. The second meaning of this term can be perceived as "a story about what happened in the past."

History as a science experienced a new upsurge in the Renaissance. In particular, the philosopher Krug has finally determined its place in the system of teachings. Later it was corrected by the French thinker Naville. He divided all sciences into three groups, one of which he called “History”; it should have included botany, zoology, astronomy, as well as history itself as a science of the past and heritage of mankind. Over time, this classification has undergone some changes.

History as a science is concrete, it requires facts, dates attached to them, chronology of events. However, it is closely related to a large number of other disciplines. Naturally, psychology was among the latter. In the last century and the century before last, theories were developed about the development of countries and peoples, taking into account "public consciousness" and other similar phenomena. The famous Sigmund Freud also contributed to such doctrines. As a result of these studies, a new term appeared - psychohistory. The science expressed by this concept was to study the motivation of the actions of individuals in the past.

History is connected with politics. That is why it can be interpreted biasedly, embellishing and painting some events and carefully hushing up others. Unfortunately, in this case, all of its value is leveled.

History as a science has four main functions: cognitive, ideological, educational and practical. The first gives the sum of information about events and eras. The ideological function involves the comprehension of past events. The essence of the practical is in understanding some objective historical processes, “learning from other people's mistakes” and refraining from subjective decisions. The educational function involves the formation of patriotism, morality, as well as a sense of conscience and duty to society.

Title page

Introduction ………………………………………………………………… ..... 3

What is history? .............................................. .......................................five

The subject of history as a science: the goal, objectives of the study, socially significant functions ………………………………………………… .. …… ... 8

1. Periodization of world history ……………………………………… .13

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………… ... 14

List of used literature ……………………………………… .16

Introduction

Interest in the past has existed since the beginning of the human race. This interest is difficult to explain by human curiosity alone. The point is that man himself is a historical being. It grows, changes, develops over time, is a product of this development.

The original meaning of the word "history" goes back to the ancient Greek term meaning "investigation", "recognition", "establishment". History was identified with the establishment of authenticity, the truth of events and facts. In Roman historiography (historiography is a branch of historical science that studies its history), this word began to mean not a way of recognition, but a story about past events. Soon, any story about any case, incident, real or fictional, began to be called “history”. Currently, we use the word "history" in two senses: firstly, to refer to the story of the past, and secondly, when it comes to the science that studies the past.

The subject of history is defined ambiguously. The subject of history can be social, political, economic, demographic history, the history of the city, village, family, private life. The definition of the subject of history is subjective, connected with the ideology of the state and the worldview of the historian. Historians who take materialist positions believe that history as a science studies the laws of the development of society, which ultimately depend on the method of production of material goods. This approach prioritizes economics, society - not people - when explaining causality. Historians adhering to liberal positions are convinced that the subject of history study is a person (personality) in the self-realization of natural rights granted by nature. The famous French historian Mark Blok defined history "as the science of people in time."

1. What is history?

History is one of the oldest sciences, it is about 2500 years old. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus (V century BC) is considered its founder. The ancients appreciated history very much and called it "magistra vitae" (teacher of life).

History is usually defined as a science about the past- of the past reality, about what once happened to a person, people, society as a whole. Thus, history is reduced to a simple analysis of events, processes, states, one way or another sunk into oblivion. This understanding of history is inaccurate and incomplete, moreover, internally contradictory. In fact, history does not allow people to forget "their past life." History, as it were, resurrects the past, the past, rediscovering and reconstructing it for the present. Thanks to history, historical knowledge, the past does not die, but continues to live in the present, serves the present.

It is noteworthy that in Ancient Greece the patroness of history was Clea - the goddess who glorifies. The scroll and the slate stick in her hands are a symbol and guarantee that nothing should disappear without a trace.

History is the collective memory of the people, the memory of the past.But the memory of the past is no longer the past in the proper sense of the word. This is the past, restored and restored according to the norms of modernity, with an orientation towards the values \u200b\u200band ideals of people's life in the present, for the past exists for us through the present and thanks to it. K. Jaspers expressed this thought in his own way: "History directly concerns us ... And everything that concerns us, thereby constitutes the problem of the present for man."

The initial meaning of the word "story"goes back to the Greek "ioropia", which means "investigation", "recognition", "establishment". Thus, initially "story" identified with a way of recognizing, establishing true events and facts. However, in Roman historiography, it already acquired second meaning (a story about the events of the past), that is, the center of gravity was shifted from the study of the past to the story of it. During the Renaissance there is the thirdthe meaning of the concept "history". History began to be understood kind of literature, special function which was establishing and fixing the truth.

However, history has not been considered for a long time as an independent area of \u200b\u200bknowledge, especially scientific knowledge. She did not have her own subject during the period of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and even during the Enlightenment. How is this fact consistent with a fairly high prestige and widespread historical knowledge? How to link it with a huge number of works containing historical information, from Herodotus and Thucydides, through countless medieval chronicles, chronicles and "lives", to the historical research of the beginning of modern times? This is explained by the fact that history has been integrated into the general system of knowledge for a long time. In the era of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, it existed and developed in combination with mythology, religion, theology, literature, and to some extent with geography. During the Renaissance, it was given a powerful impetus by geographical discoveries, the flowering of art, political theories. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. history was associated with political theory, geography, literature, philosophy, culture.

The need to isolate scientific knowledge proper began to be felt from the time of the natural science revolution (XVII century). However, even at the beginning of the 19th century, the "indivisibility" of "philosophical" and scientific knowledge, on the one hand, and science itself by disciplines, on the other, continued to persist.

One of the first attempts to define the place of history as a scientific discipline with its own subject was undertaken by the German philosopher V. Krug in his work "Experience of a systematic encyclopedia of knowledge." The circle divided the sciences into philological and real, real - into positive (legal and theological) and natural, natural - into historical and rational, etc. In turn, "historical" sciences were subdivided into geographical (place) and historical (time) disciplines proper.

At the end of the XIX century. French philosopher A. Naville divided all sciences into three groups:

1. "Theorematics" - "sciences about the limits of possibilities or about laws" (mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, sociology).

2. "History" - "sciences about realized possibilities or facts" (astronomy, geology, botany, zoology, mineralogy, history of mankind).

3. "Canon" - "the science of possibilities, the realization of which would be a blessing, or about ideal rules of behavior" (morality, art theory, law, medicine, pedagogy).

2. The subject of history as a science: purpose, objectives of the study, socially significant functions.

The study of any science begins with the definition of the concepts with which it operates in the process of cognition, both nature and society. From this point of view, the question arises: what is history as a science? What is the subject of her study? Answering this question, first of all, it is necessary to distinguish between history as any process of development of nature and society, closely related to each other, and history as a science about these processes.

We will consider history as a science in the development of human society in all its diversity. And since the history of society is a set of specific and diverse actions and deeds of individuals, human communities that are in a certain relationship, constituting the whole of humanity, the subject of history study is the activities and actions of people, the whole set of relations in society.

The famous Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky wrote about history as a science in the following way: “In the scientific language, the word“ history ”is used in a double sense: 1) as movement in time, a process, and 2) as the cognition of a process. Therefore, everything that takes place in time has its own history. , as a separate science, a special branch of scientific knowledge, is the historical process, that is, the course, conditions and successes of human society or the life of mankind in its development and results. "

Historians study their subject in time diversified, in parts, from different angles. Disorder, fragmentation, unevenness, "white spots" and "gray niches" of the past - such is the canvas of historical time. But historical knowledge as a whole allows, when necessary, to shift your gaze and see all the diversity of the "world of history", structures and connections, events and actions, the existence of peoples and the everyday life of heroes and the "little" person, everyday consciousness and global outlook.

Due to the fact that the content of historical science is the historical process that is revealed in the phenomena of human life, and these phenomena are extremely diverse, respectively, history is a diversified science, it is composed of a number of independent branches of historical knowledge, namely: political history, civil history, history of the economy, history of culture, military history, history of state and law, etc.

History is also subdivided according to the breadth of the study of the object: history of the world as a whole (world or general history); history of world civilizations; history of continents (history of Asia and Africa, Latin America); history of individual countries and peoples (history of the USA, Canada, China, Russia, etc.).

A number of auxiliary historical disciplines have developed, which develop general questions of the methodology and technique of historical research. Among them: paleography (the history of writing), numismatics (coins, orders, medals), toponymy (the study of the names of geographical places), source studies (general techniques and methods of studying historical sources), etc.

History is a concrete science, requiring exact knowledge of chronology (dates), facts, events. It is associated with other humanities and social sciences. These relations developed in different ways in different periods, but the largest representatives of historiography have always believed in the "common market" of social sciences. This belief continues today. The interpenetration and mutual enrichment of the social sciences, the so-called interdisciplinarity, is a phenomenon characteristic of the 20th century. It is due to the demarcation of the social sciences, their separation into independent areas of knowledge, as a result of which the process of division of labor and specialization was accompanied by deepening interconnections.

History, as well as other humanities and social sciences of the late 19th - 20th centuries. did not escape the influence of psychology. They were very popular at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. G. Le Bon's books "The Psychological Laws of the Evolution of Nations" (Le Bon. 1894) and "The Psychology of Nations and Masses" (Le Bon. 1895), which substantiated the assumption of the entry of European society into the "era of the crowd", when a rational critical beginning, embodied in the personality, suppressed by the irrational mass consciousness. Austrian psychologist Z. Freud believed that his concept of the "subconscious" could be the key to understanding historical figures, and Freud's "Essay" on Leonardo da Vinci, written in 1910, was essentially the first experience of psychohistory.

The term "psychohistory" appeared in the 50s in the USA, where magazines on psychohistory were published at that time. Their heroes were such historical figures as Hitler, Trotsky, Gandhi, etc. Psychoanalysis had a great influence on the criticism of some historical sources - diaries, letters, memoirs.

The fact of the author's psychological need for fantasies was taken into account. A separate topic was the study of diary entries about dreams. There are known examples of the application of psychoanalysis to social groups, for example, to the history of peasant and urban religious movements, in the study of which historians often deal with deviations. But on the whole, the flourishing of psychohistory turned out to be short-lived, and the possibilities were limited.

Today historians are aware of both the importance and the limitations of psychoanalysis's capabilities for their discipline. The areas where psychoanalysis can be effectively used are outlined quite clearly: the study of outstanding personalities, the study of cultural traditions. The task of synthesizing history and psychology, if it makes sense, is still a matter for the future.

Compared with other humanities and social sciences that study any one of the aspects of social life, history differs in that the subject of its cognition is the entire totality of the life of society throughout the entire historical process. In addition, many of the problems of the past and the present, which are dealt with by political scientists, economists, sociologists, ethnologists and other specialists in the humanitarian and social cycle, can be solved only on the basis of a historical approach and historical analysis, on the basis of the work done by historians, because only collection, systematization and generalization of a huge amount of factual material allows you to see and understand the trends of social development.

The study and teaching of history in modern conditions is complicated by a number of circumstances:

1. The process of rethinking the past in our country is taking place under the conditions of a change in the socio-economic and political system, under the conditions of the formation of new moral and ethical values. In this regard, history has become a real battlefield, a field of political struggle, where not only scientifically based criticism collides, but also politicized points of view, whose supporters are interested not so much in the historical truth as in the arguments in favor of their existence. And this instead of one half-truth gives rise to another.

2. History has always been closely linked to the politics, interests and destinies of rulers, who rarely encouraged the desire of historians to know the truth and communicate it to society. This is felt especially acutely today. Therefore, one has to face bias and subjectivity in assessing historical events, especially the Soviet period.

3. Unfortunately, the level of historical training and general political culture of our youth does not create favorable conditions for deep critical understanding and perception of numerous publications that distort the picture of the historical development of our country.

4. The situation is complicated by the lack of textbooks. Available separate textbooks and teaching aids are rare.

In these conditions, teaching history acquires a general civilian sound.

3. The periodization of world history.

One of the important problems of historical science is the problem of the periodization of the development of human society. Periodization is the establishment of chronologically sequential stages in social development. The selection of stages should be based on decisive factors common to all countries or to leading states.

Since the development of historical science, scientists have developed many different options for the periodization of social development. To date, the periodization of world history proceeds from two principles: for the early periods of the formation of human society, the material from which the main tools of labor and the technology of their manufacture are made are fundamental. This is how the concepts "Stone Age", "Copper-Stone Age", "Bronze Age", "Iron Age" appeared.

The dating of these periods is established using natural scientific methods (geological, dendrochronology, etc.). With the advent of writing in the history of mankind (about 5000 years ago), other grounds arose for periodization. It began to be determined by the time of existence of various civilizations and states that kept their account of time

In general, world history is usually divided into four main periods:

Ancient world (the period from the separation of man from the animal world about 2 million years ago to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD).

Middle Ages (the period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance of the 16th century).

New time (from the Renaissance to 1918 - the end of the First World War).

Newest time (from 1919 to the present day).

Conclusion

Whatever subject historians study, they all use scientific categories in their research: historical movement (historical time, historical space), historical fact, theory of study (methodological interpretation).

The historical movement includes the interrelated scientific categories of historical time and historical space.

Historical time only moves forward. Each segment of movement in historical time is woven of thousands of connections, material and spiritual, it is unique and unmatched. History does not exist outside the concept of historical time. Events following one after another form a time series. There are internal connections between events in the time series.

At the end of the 19th century, materialist historians divided the history of society into formations: primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist, and communist. At the turn of the XXI century, the historical-liberal periodization divides society into periods: traditional, industrial, informational (post-industrial).

Theories of the historical process or theories of learning (methodological interpretation) are determined by the subject of history. A theory is a logical framework that explains historical facts. By themselves, historical facts as “fragments of reality” do not explain anything. Only the historian gives the fact an interpretation that depends on his ideological and theoretical views. What distinguishes one theory of the historical process from another? The difference between them lies in the subject of study and the system of views on the historical process. Each scheme-theory selects from a multitude of historical facts only those that fit into its logic. Based on the subject of historical research, each theory singles out its own periodization, defines its conceptual apparatus, creates its own historiography. Various theories reveal only their own patterns or alternatives - versions of the historical process and offer their own vision of the past, make their predictions for the future.

Only the facts of history can be true, the interpretation of these facts is always subjective. Facts that are biased and arranged in a predetermined logical-semantic scheme (without explanation and conclusions) cannot pretend to be an objective history, but are just an example of a hidden selection of facts of a certain theory.

Different learning theories that explain real historical facts have no advantage over each other. All of them are "truthful, objective, true" and reflect the difference in worldviews, systems of views on history and modern society. Criticism of one theory from the position of another is incorrect, since it replaces the worldview, the subject of study. Attempts to create a general (unique), universal theory, that is, to combine different theories - worldviews (subjects of study), are anti-scientific, as they lead to a violation of cause-and-effect relationships, to contradictory conclusions.

List of used literature:

Barg M. Civilizational approach to history // Communist, 1991, no. 3.

Grechko P.K. Conceptual Models of History: A Handbook for Students. M .: Logos, 1995.

Danilevsky N. Ya. Russia and Europe. M .: Kniga, 1991.

Ionov I.N. The theory of civilization and the evolution of scientific knowledge // Social sciences and modernity, 1997, No. 6.

Klyuchevsky V.O .. Course of Russian history. M., 1956. T. I. Part I.

Marx M., Engels F. Sobr. op. T. 13, 22.

Rakitov A.I. Historical knowledge: a systemic-epistemological approach. M .: Politizdat, 1982.

Savelieva I.M., Poletaev A.V. History and Time: In Search of the Lost. Languages \u200b\u200bof Russian culture. M., 1997.

Semennikova L.I. Civilizations in the history of mankind. Bryansk: Kursiv, 1998.

Toynbee A. Comprehension of history. M., 1991.

as a single contradictory process. Historical the science includes: - general history; (worldwide) - ...

1. Culturology as the science (9)

   Examination \u003e\u003e Culture and Art

   Individual, then as generally possible story as the science? It is “the concept of culture that makes possible history as science ", - replies ... G. Rickert. Philosophy, according to Rickert, is science about values \u200b\u200b...

2. The rise of paleography as science

   Abstract \u003e\u003e History

   The purpose of the auxiliary historical disciplines is to serve history as science, help her in solving the main task ... the Cyril letter. Story the rise of paleography as independent science Story the rise of paleography as science started back in ...

3. Story development of statistics as science

   Abstract \u003e\u003e Marketing

   ...) outlined the main provisions disclosing statistics as science... IN stories development of statistics are of great importance ...

The original meaning, etymology and meaning of the term

The original meaning of the word "history" goes back to the ancient Greek term meaning "investigation, recognition, establishment." History was identified with the establishment of authenticity, the truth of events and facts. In ancient Roman historiography (historiography in the modern sense is a branch of historical science that studies its history), this word began to denote not a way of recognition, but a story about past events. Soon, any story about any case, incident, real or fictional, began to be called history.

Stories that are popular in a particular culture but are not supported by outside sources, such as the Arthurian legends, are usually considered part of the cultural heritage, rather than the "impartial research" that any part of history as a scientific discipline should be.

Word story came from the Greek language ( ἱστορία , historia), and comes from the Proto-Indo-European word wid-tor-where is the root weid-, "Know, see". In Russian it is represented by the words "to see" and "to be in charge".

In the same ancient Greek sense, the word "history" was used by Francis Bacon in the widely used term natural history. For Bacon, history is “knowledge about objects whose place is determined in space and time”, and the source of which is memory (just as science is the fruit of reflection, and poetry is the fruit of fantasy). In medieval England, the word "history" was more often used in the sense of a story in general ( story). The special term history ( history) how the sequence of past events appeared in english language at the end of the 15th century, and the word "historical" ( historical, historic) - in the XVII century. In Germany, France and Russia, the same word "history" is still used in both senses.

Since historians are both observers and participants in events, their historical works are written from the point of view of their time and are usually not only politically biased, but also share all the delusions of their era. According to Benedetto Croce, “The whole story is modern history". Historical science provides a true account of the course of history through the narrative of events and their impartial analysis. In our time, history is created by the efforts of scientific institutions.

All events that remain in the memory of generations, in one or another authentic form, constitute the content of the historical chronicle. This is necessary to identify the sources most important for the reconstruction of the past. The composition of each historical archive depends on the content of a more general archive, in which certain texts and documents are found; although each of them claims to be "the whole truth", some of these statements are usually refuted. In addition to archival sources, historians can use inscriptions and images on monuments, oral traditions and other sources, for example, archaeological. Providing sources that are independent of historical, archeology is especially useful for historical research, not only confirming or refuting eyewitness accounts of events, but also allowing information to fill in time gaps about which there is no evidence of contemporaries.

History by some authors belongs to the humanities, by others to the social sciences, and it can be viewed as an area between the humanities and social sciences. The study of history is often associated with specific practical or theoretical purposes, but it can also be a manifestation of ordinary human curiosity.

Historiography

Term historiography has several meanings. First, it is the science of how history is written, how well the historical method is applied, and how it develops. Second, the same term is used to denote a set of historical works, often thematically or in some other way selected from the general set (for example, the historiography of the 1960s about the Middle Ages). Third, the term historiography denote the reasons for the creation of historical works, identified in the course of their analysis, according to the choice of topics, the way of interpreting events, the personal beliefs of the author and the audience to which he refers, according to the use of evidence or the method of referring to other historians. Professional historians are also discussing the possibility of creating a single account of human history or a series of such stories competing for an audience.

Philosophy of history

The main approaches to the development of the philosophy of history include the following:

• formation (K. Marx, F. Engels, V. I. Lenin, I. M. Dyakonov, etc.)
• civilizational (N. Ya.Danilevsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee, S. Aisenstadt, B. S. Erasov, D. M. Bondarenko, I. V. Sledzevsky, S. A. Nefedov, G. V. Aleksushin and etc.)
• world-systemic (A. G. Frank, I. Wallerstein, S. Amin, J. Arrigi, M. A. Cheshkov, A. I. Fursov, A. V. Korotaev, K. Chase-Dunn, L. Ye. Grinin, etc.)
• School "Annals": M. Blok, L. Fevre, F. Braudel, A. Ya. Gurevich.
• Relay-stage (Yu.I. Semyonov) (in fact, nothing more than a modified Marxist-formational approach, where the main driving force social development is the same class struggle, and the ultimate goal is communism.)

History methods

The historical method consists in following the principles and rules of working with primary sources and other evidence found in the course of research and then used in writing a historical work.

However, the beginning of the use of scientific methods in history is associated with his other contemporary, Thucydides, and his book "History of the Peloponnesian War". Unlike Herodotus and his religious colleagues, Thucydides viewed history as a product of choices and actions not of the gods, but of people in whom he looked for all causes and effects.

Their own traditions and developed methods of historical research existed in ancient and medieval China. The foundations of professional historiography were laid there by Sima Qian (145-90 BC), the author of Historical Notes. His followers used this work as a model for historical and biographical writings.

Among other historians who influenced the formation of the methodology of historical research, one can mention Ranke, Trevelyan, Braudel, Blok, February, Vogel. Authors such as H. Trevor-Roper opposed the use of scientific methodology in history. They argued that understanding history requires imagination, so history should be considered not science but art. The equally controversial author Ernst Nolte, following the classical German philosophical tradition, viewed history as a movement of ideas. Marxist historiography, represented in the West, in particular by the works of Hobsbawm and Deutscher, aims to confirm philosophical ideas Karl Marx. Their opponents, representing anti-communist historiography, such as Pipes and Conquest, offer a counter-Marxist interpretation of history. There is also an extensive historiography from a feminist perspective. A number of postmodern philosophers generally deny the possibility of an unbiased interpretation of history and the existence of scientific methodology in it. IN recent times Cliodynamics, the mathematical modeling of historical processes, is beginning to gain more and more strength.

Comprehension of the laws of historical processes

The issue of the spread of various social systems was largely reduced to the problem of the spread of technical innovations, cultural diffusion. The ideas of diffusionism were most clearly formulated in the so-called theory of cultural circles. Its authors Friedrich Ratzel, Leo Frobenius and Fritz Gröbner believed that similar phenomena in the culture of different peoples are explained by the origin of these phenomena from one center, that the most important elements of human culture appear only once and only in one place. They give the pioneer people a decisive advantage over other peoples.

In the 50s and 60s of the XX century, the Malthusian theory of cycles found a detailed reflection in the generalizing works of Slicher van Bat, Carlo Chippola and a number of other authors. An important role in the development of this theory was played by the French school "Annals", in particular the works of Jean Mevreux, Pierre Hubert, Ernest Labrousse, Fernand Braudel, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie. In 1958, summing up the achievements of the preceding period, the editor of the Annals, Fernand Braudel, announced the birth of a “new historical science,” La Nouvelle Histoire. He wrote: “New economic and social history brings to the fore in its research the problem of cyclical change. She is mesmerized by the phantom, but at the same time by the reality of the cyclical rise and fall of prices. " Soon the existence of a "new historical science" was recognized throughout the Western world. In England, it began to be called the new scientific history, and in the USA - the new economic history, or cliometry. The historical process was described by cliometrists using huge numerical arrays, databases stored in the memory of computers.

In 1974, the first volume of Immanuel Wallerstein's Modern World System was published. Developing the ideas of Fernand Braudel, Wallerstein showed that the formation of the world market is associated with uneven economic development. The countries of the "world center", where new technologies appear and from where a diffusion (and sometimes conquering) wave of innovation spread comes from, thanks to this they exploit the countries of the "world periphery".

In 1991, Jack Goldstone's demographic-structural theory appeared. She relied on neo-Malthusian theory, but offered a more detailed approach, in particular, she considered the impact of the crisis of overpopulation not only on the common people, but also on the elite and on the state.

In The Pursuit of Power, William McNeill, describing the diffusion waves generated by the technical discoveries of modernity, complements his model with a description of the Malthusian demographic cycles. Thus, we can talk about a new concept of the development of human society, in which the internal development of society is described using the neo-Malthusian theory, however, demographic cycles are sometimes superimposed on waves of conquests generated by discoveries made in other societies. These conquests are followed by demographic catastrophes and social synthesis, during which a new society and a new state are born.

Historical periods

The division of history into certain periods is used to classify in terms of certain general ideas. The names and boundaries of individual periods may vary by geographic region and date system. In most cases, the names are given retrospectively, that is, they reflect a system of assessing the past from the point of view of subsequent eras, which can affect the researcher, and therefore periodization should be treated with due caution.

Story ( historical period) in the classical sense begins with the advent of writing. The period preceding its appearance is called prehistoric... In Russian historiography, the following major periods of world history are distinguished:

• Primitive society: in the Middle East - up to approx. 3000 BC e. (unification of Upper and Lower Egypt);
• Ancient world: in Europe - before 476 AD e. (fall of the Roman Empire);
• Middle Ages: 476 - the end of the 15th century (the beginning of the era of the great geographical discoveries);
• Modern times: the end of the 15th century. - 1918 (end of the First World War);
• Modern time: 1918 - present day.

There are also alternative periodizations of world history. For example, in Western historiography, the ending middle ages associated with the XVI century, after which a single period begins modern history.

Historical disciplines

• Archeography is the theory and practice of publishing written sources.
• Archeology is a study of the historical past of mankind based on material sources.
• Archival studies - the study of issues of acquisition of archives, as well as storage and use of archival documents.
• Archontology is the study of the history of positions in government, international, political, religious and other social structures.
• Bonistics is the study of the history of printing and circulation of paper banknotes.
• Vexillology (flagology) - the study of flags, banners, standards, pennants and other items of this kind.
• Genealogy is the study of the relationship of people.
• Genetic genealogy is the study of kinship relationships between people using the methods of genetics.
• Heraldry (coat of arms) - the study of coats of arms, as well as the tradition and practice of their use.
• Diplomacy - the study of historical acts (legal documents).
• Documentation is a complex science of document and documentary communication activity, which studies, in the historical, modern and prognostic terms, the processes of creation, distribution and use of documentary sources of information in society.
• Historiography - the study of the history and methodology of historical knowledge, as well as the study of the views and works of various historians.
• Historical geography is a science at the intersection of history and geography.
• Historical demography is the science of the demographic history of mankind.
• Historical metrology is the study of measures used in the past - length, area, volume, weight - in their historical development.
• - the study .
• The methodology of history is the study of various systems of methods that can be used in the process of historical research and the specifics of various historical scientific schools.
• Numismatics - the study of the history of coinage and circulation of coins.
• Paleography is the study of the history of writing, the patterns of development of its graphic forms, as well as monuments of ancient writing.
• Papyrology is the study of texts on papyri found mainly in Egypt.
• Sphragistics - the study of seals (matrices) and their impressions on various materials.
• Faleristics - the study of award insignia.
• Chronology is the study of the sequence of historical events in time, or the science of measuring time.
• Eortology - the study of church holidays.
• Epigraphy - the study of inscriptions on hard materials (stone, ceramics, metal, etc.)

Disciplines related to history

• Anthropology is the study of man and his interaction with the world.
• Gender history is the history of the interaction of male and female experiences as one of the most important aspects of social organization.
• Sociocultural anthropology is the science of culture as a set of material objects, ideas, values, beliefs and behavioral patterns in all forms of its manifestation and at all historical stages of its development.
• Culturology is a science that studies culture, the most general laws of its development.
• Local history - the study of architecture, biology, geography, history, culture, literature, medicine, religious cults, self-government, agriculture, sports, toponymy, fortification, ecology of a particular region.
• Psychohistory is the study of the psychological motivation of people's actions in the past.
• Ethnology and ethnography is the study of peoples and ethnic groups, their origin, culture and behavior (the definition of the subject of both disciplines, as well as their connection with sociocultural anthropology, remain controversial).

Related disciplines

• Military history - the science of origins, construction and actions armed forces, component military science.
• Historical psychology is a science at the intersection of history and psychology.
• The history of culture is the science of the value world of historical eras, peoples, individuals and other carriers of the historical process.
• History of science - history of scientific knowledge, political and legal doctrines, history of philosophy, etc.
• History of State and Law - studies the patterns of development of state and law among different peoples of the world in different historical periods.
• History of political and legal doctrines - studies the features of views on the essence, origin and existence of the state and the law of various thinkers in different historical periods.
• The history of religion is the study of the emergence and development of religious beliefs and sacred cults, interrelationships and characteristics of local and world confessions.
• The history of economics is the study of phenomena and processes associated with evolutionary development and the interaction of human economic activity.

Notes

1. Profesor Richard J. Evans The Two Faces of E.H. Carr (eng.). Archived
2. Professor alun munslow What History Is (eng.). History in Focus, Issue 2: What is History?... University of London (2001). Archived from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
3. Introduction // Knowing Teaching and Learning History, National and International Perspectives / Peter N. Stearns, Peters Seixas, Sam Wineburg (eds.). - New York & London: New York University Press, 2000. - P. 6. - ISBN 0-8147-8141-1
4. Nash Gary B. The "Convergence" Paradigm in Studying Early American History in Schools // Knowing Teaching and Learning History, National and International Perspectives / Peter N. Stearns, Peters Seixas, Sam Wineburg (eds.). - New York & London: New York University Press, 2000. - P. 102-115. - ISBN 0-8147-8141-1
5. Seixas Peter Schweigen! die Kinder! // Knowing Teaching and Learning History, National and International Perspectives / Peter N. Stearns, Peters Seixas, Sam Wineburg (eds.). - New York & London: New York University Press, 2000. - P. 24. - ISBN 0-8147-8141-1
6. Lowenthal david Dilemmas and Delights of Learning History // Knowing Teaching and Learning History, National and International Perspectives / Peter N. Stearns, Peters Seixas, Sam Wineburg (eds.). - New York & London: New York University Press, 2000. - P. 63. - ISBN 0-8147-8141-1
7. Joseph, Brian (Ed.) & Janda, Richard (Ed.) (2008), "The Handbook of Historical Linguistics", Blackwell Publishing (published December 30, 2004), p. 163, ISBN 978-1405127479
8. Muller M... On the power of roots // Science of language. Philological notes, Voronezh, 1866.
9. Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search\u003dhistory&searchmode\u003dnone
10. Ferrater-Mora, José. Diccionario de Filosofia... Barcelona: Editorial Ariel, 1994.
11. Whitney, W. D. ... New York: The Century Co, 1889.
12. Whitney, W. D. (1889). The Century dictionary; an encyclopedic lexicon of the English language. New York: The Century Co. Page.
13. WordNet Search - 3.0, "History".
14. Michael C. Lemon (1995) The Discipline of History and the History of Thought. Routledge. Page 201. ISBN 0-415-12346-1
15. Scott Gordon and James Gordon Irving, The History and Philosophy of Social Science... Routledge 1991. Page 1. ISBN 0-415-05682-9
16. Ritter, H. (1986). Dictionary of concepts in history. Reference sources for the social sciences and humanities, no. 3. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. Page 416.
17. Graham, Gordon Chapter 1 // The Shape of the Past. - Oxford University, 1997.
18. Elizabeth Harris, In Defense of the Liberal-Arts Approach to Technical Writing. College English, Vol. 44, No. 6 (Oct., 1982), pp. 628-636