The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
The Positivists, anxious to stake out their claim for history as a science, contributed the weight of their influence to the cult of facts. First ascertain the facts, said the positivists, then draw your conclusions from them. . . . This is what may [be] called the common-sense view of history. History consists of a corpus of ascertained facts. The facts are available to the historian in documents, inscriptions, and so on . . . [Sir George Clark] contrasted the "hard core of facts" in history with the surrounding pulp of disputable interpretation forgetting perhaps that the pulpy part of the fruit is more rewarding than the hard core. . . . It recalls the favourite dictum of the great liberal journalist C. P. Scott: "Facts are sacred, opinion is free.". . .
What is a historical fact? . . . According to the common-sense view, there are certain basic facts which are the same for all historians and which form, so to speak, the backbone of history—the fact, for example, that the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066. But this view calls for two observations. In the first place, it is not with facts like these that the historian is primarily concerned. It is no doubt important to know that the great battle was fought in 1066 and not in 1065 or 1067, and that it was fought at Hastings and not at Eastbourne or Brighton. The historian must not get these things wrong. But [to] praise a historian for his accuracy is like praising an architect for using well-seasoned timber or properly mixed concrete in his building. It is a necessary condition of his work, but not his essential function. It is precisely for matters of this kind that the historian is entitled to rely on what have been called the "auxiliary sciences" of history—archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, chronology, and so forth. . . .
The second observation is that the necessity to establish these basic facts rests not on any quality in the facts themselves, but on an apriori decision of the historian. In spite of C. P. Scott's motto, every journalist knows today that the most effective way to influence opinion is by the selection and arrangement of the appropriate facts. It used to be said that facts speak for themselves. This is, of course, untrue. The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in what order or context. . . . The only reason why we are interested to know that the battle was fought at Hastings in 1066 is that historians regard it as a major historical event. . . . Professor Talcott Parsons once called [science] "a selective system of cognitive orientations to reality." It might perhaps have been put more simply. But history is, among other things, that. The historian is necessarily selective. The belief in a hard core of historical facts existing objectively and independently of the interpretation of the historian is a preposterous fallacy, but one which it is very hard to eradicate.
history is like science: a selective system of cognitive orientations to reality.
The “common-sense view” is the positivist view: “First ascertain the facts … then draw your conclusions”, history is “a corpus of ascertained facts” available “in documents, inscriptions, and so on”.
So the view holds that positivist methods lead to credible history, that history can be as objective as a science if built on facts, and that real history is found in inscriptions and archival documents.
The description of history as “a selective system of cognitive orientations to reality” is the author’s own view, borrowed from Talcott Parsons, and it opposes the common-sense view. So it does not describe that view.
Hence, history is like science: a selective system of cognitive orientations to reality.
Archaeology helps historians to ascertain factual accuracy.
Archaeology is listed among the “auxiliary sciences” of history.
The author says that praising a historian for accuracy is like praising an architect for using good timber: accuracy is necessary but not the essential function, and “It is precisely for matters of this kind that the historian is entitled to rely on” the auxiliary sciences. So archaeology helps historians to establish factual accuracy.
It does not help with interpretation, which is the historian’s own work, and it is not the historian’s primary duty. Locating the oldest civilisations is never mentioned.
Hence, Archaeology helps historians to ascertain factual accuracy.
exploring the socio-political and economic factors that led to the Battle.
The author argues that basic facts such as the date and place of the battle are only “a necessary condition” of the historian’s work, “but not his essential function”. Facts matter only because “historians regard it as a major historical event”, and the historian’s task is to select and interpret.
A book written on these lines would therefore go beyond dates and documents and explain why the battle mattered, exploring the social, political and economic factors behind it.
A detailed timeline and facts drawn from documents and inscriptions are the “hard core of facts” the author treats as secondary. The auxiliary sciences are said to establish accuracy, not to give a nuanced interpretation.
Hence, exploring the socio-political and economic factors that led to the Battle.
facts, like truth, can be relative: what is fact for person X may not be so for person Y.
The claim “facts do not speak for themselves” means facts gain meaning only when the historian selects and arranges them.
Saying a fact is objective and universal whatever its context, that the order of facts has no bearing on meaning, or that a fact’s truth is independent of the historian, all argue that facts carry meaning on their own. Each of these weakens the claim.
Saying facts are relative, so that what is fact for one person may not be so for another, supports the view that facts depend on who presents them. It does not weaken the claim.
Hence, facts, like truth, can be relative: what is fact for person X may not be so for person Y.
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Important Questions from Non Grammar
- In formulating Principle VI (a), the ILC clarified the term "waging of a war of aggression" because:
- The author attributes the growing public frustration with the UN primarily to which pair of continuous failures?
- A primary point of divergence between the US Conservative position and the Secretary-General's Conservative position on security matters, according to the summary is:
- According to the critique's conclusion, the immediate, insurmountable barrier preventing the implementation of any reform, major or minor, is:
- The Secretary-General's 'Agenda for Peace' proposed a specific military capability intended to address the gap between traditional peace-keeping and full military action. This proposed unit was explicitly characterized by the summary as being:
