Historians' Fallacies : Toward a Logic of Historical Thought

362 Pages·1970·12.01 MB·English

by  David Hackett Fischer

Historians'
Fallacies
logoifc
Towarda
HistoThricoalu ght

HISTORIANS'
FALLACIES
TowarLd oag oifHc i stTohroiucgahlt
HISTORIANS'
FALLACIES
TowarLdo goifHc i stoThroiucgalh t
a
by DaviHda ckett Fischer
e
HARPER PERENNIAL
NEW YORK • LONDON • TORONTO • SYDNEY e NEW DELHI • AUCKLAND
HARPER.,PERENNIAL
The quotatioonn p age 20i sf rom" BurnNto rtoni"n F our Quabyr Tt.eS t.sE l iot,
reprinbtyepe dr missoni ofH arcourt, Brace WoAr ldI,n c.
Thel inebsy RoberFtro st onp age1 30ar ef rom"Th e Lesson forT oday"i nC omplete
PoembsyR obertF rosrtp,e rinbtyepe drmiss ion ofH oltR,i nehaartn dW instonI,n c.
llln'ORIANS' PALLAQD. Copyript © 19b7y0Da vid HIICkettP ilcher. AUJi&h ta raened.
Printed inthe UnitedSCata ofAme rica. Nopart oftbis boot may be oru.ecl reprod uced
in uy maDDerw hatsoeverw ithout writtpeermiasioan ucept in the CMe ofbrief cpaota­
tions embodied in critical articles revandi wse� For informationadclr cu Harper A Row,
Publillhcn, lnc., to East '>3dN ew Slrect.Y ork, N.Y. 10022
FiraBtA RPI.R TORCHBOOK editpiuobnl i1s97h0e d
ISBN0-06-:1 3JS4S·l
II 12 1R3R D(H5)0 4 94 84 74 6
FoMra graretFtraed erick

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Introduction XV
PARTI INQUIRY
ChaptIe rF allaocfiQ euse stion-Framing 3
ChaptIeIr F allaocfiF easc tuVaelr ification 40
ChaptIeIrI F allaocfFi aecst uSailgnifi cance 64
PARTI I EXPLANATION
ChaptIeVr FallaocfGi eense ralization 103
ChaptVe rF allaocfiN easr ration 131
ChaptVeIr FallaocfiC easu sation 164
ChaptVeIrI FallaocfiM eost ivna tio 187
ChaptVeIrI IF allaocfiC eosm position 216
ChaptIeXr FallaocfiF easl sAen alogy 243
PARTI IIA RGUMENT
ChaptXe rF allaocfiS eesm antDiicsatlo rtion 263
ChaptXeIr FallaocfiS eusb stanDtiistvrea ction 282
Conclusion 307
Index 319
IndeoxfF allacies 337

PREFACE
The poorco ndition oft hel.o gicanaall yosfish istiosry
shobwynt hef actth ante ithheirs torinaonrms e,t hodolo­
gistso fhis tory, butr athreerp resentatoifvvee sryu nrelated
disciplihnaevsec onducttheed a uthoritiantivveset igations
inttoh iism portant question.
-Max Weber
Thep robloeflm oc atianl go goifch istotrihcoaulg chutta sc rossesv eral
separaactaed emdiics ciplFionrte hsar.te asopenr,h apist,h as been
satisfascttuodrbiiyeln dyo noef t hemM.a nyp rofesslioogincali wanisl l
refutsore e cogniitas z ael ogipcralo blaetalm l T.h ehya vbee eants ome
painst os hotwh atth esiurb jiecsta ni ntellectuali ni dtsio swnc ipline
right�vetnh ien telldeicstcuiaplThl eiyn aree.c ustomarilcyo mmitted
to a searfcohrt hel ogiocf t hougahbto uetv erytihnig negn eraanld,
nothiinnpg ar ticuOlnaerp .h ilosopShteerp,hT eonu lmihnas, p roposed
a deifrfesnttr attehgery e:fi nemoefna t p luraolfifi teyl d-relloagitcesd
whicha rdee sigtnoep dr omostpeec ikianld so fin quir"yN.o otn lwiyl l
logihca vteob ecommeo reem piriTcoaull,m"i n w"riwilitlt iense,vi tably
tentdobec ome morhei storiiTcota hli.un pkn ewan d bettemre thodso f
arguingi nan y fielidst om akei a majoard vancneo,tj usitnl ogibcu,t
int hseu bstafinetliidvt es. e"Tl1of ulmimna'nsi fewsast ios sued tmhoarne
teyne arsa goF.e wl ogichiaavnrese spontdoehis d c allM.o sto ft hme
ares iltlm ovingi nth eo pposdiitree ction.
If theirsea field-relloagitocef hd i stortihcoaulgt hhte,wn o rking
historimaunssht e ltpo fi ndi tB.u tt hehya vceo ntribluittoetlfdec on­
sequeinn cteh peas tf ortyye arTsh.e iartri claensd b ookosn t hnea ture
ofh isttoernytd od egeneirnattmoee reex hortatoirom nansu,a losn t he
mechaniocfcs i tatoirmo ent,a histmourmibcoal- juMmabnoy.a cademic
historrieangsa mredt hodologanidc lalo gipcraolb lewmisths uspicion
and evehno stility. Intchrewe odrid"b lloyg,ii cso" f tean pe jorative,
I.Step hen Toulmin,T heU seosfA rgume(nCamtb ridge,1 958p).2, 5 7.