Chapter 12

GENERAL CONDITIONS OF HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTION

The materials of Historical Construction are isolated facts, of very different kinds, of very different degrees of generality, each belonging to a definite time and place, of different degrees of certainty 211

Subjectivity of History 214

The facts learnt from documents relate to (1) living beings and material objects; (2) actions, individual and collective; (3) motives and conceptions 217

The facts of the past must be imagined on the model of those of the present--Danger of error especially in regard to mental facts 219

Some of the conditions of human life are permanent--The study of these provides a framework into which details taken from documents are to be fitted--For this purpose systematic lists of questions are to be used, drawn up beforehand, and relating to the universal conditions of life 224

Outline of Historical Construction--The division of labour--Historians must use the works of their colleagues and predecessors, but not without critical precautions 228