As a general rule I would suggest that scholars not use Wikipedia as a reference. It can be appallingly inaccurate, particularly on any subject around which there is controversy. -- Stephan Stephan A. Schwartz Email: [log in to unmask] Personal Website: www.stephanaschwartz.com Schwartzreport: www.schwartzreport.net Explore - Schwartzreport Column: www.explorejournal.com On 22 Oct 2008, at 09:55, John Philip Adams wrote: > Presentism (literary and historical analysis) From Wikipedia, the free > encyclopedia > Jump to: navigation, search > > Presentism is a mode of historical analysis in which present-day > ideas and > perspectives are anachronistically introduced into depictions or > interpretations of the past. Some modern historians seek to avoid > presentism > in their work because they believe it creates a distorted > understanding of > their subject matter. > > The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first citation for > presentism in its > historiographical sense from 1916, and the word may have been in > use in this > meaning as early as the 1870s. Historian David Hackett Fischer > identifies > presentism as a logical fallacy also known as the "fallacy of nunc pro > tunc". He has written that the "classic example" of presentism was the > so-called "Whig history", in which certain eighteenth- and > nineteenth-century British historians wrote history in a way that > used the > past to validate their own political beliefs. This interpretation was > presentist because it did not depict the past in objective historical > context, but instead viewed history only through the lens of > contemporary > Whig beliefs. In this kind of approach, which emphasizes the > relevance of > history to the present, things which do not seem relevant receive > little > attention, resulting in a misleading portrayal of the past. "Whig > history" > or "whiggishness" are often used as synonyms for presentism, > particularly > when the historical depiction in question is teleological or > triumphalist. > > Have any of you teachers thought about going back to colleges and > universities and getting some more degrees in education? > John Philip Adams > Texas > > -----Original Message----- > From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history > [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anne Pemberton > Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 7:41 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: History as TRUTH > > James, > > Not sure if it is mentioned in 1491, but in the earlier book, "The > Invasion > of America" by Francis Jennings, it is mentioned that archeologists > have > found evidence that the Chinese visited the west coast of South and > perhaps > Central America. There are suggestions that they ventured as far > north as > San Francisco. > > Columbus was a map-maker who wanted to get very rich by discovering > the > shortest route to the Spice Islands for whatever country would > finance his > adventure. > > Bear in mind that those who were going west to fish the various > banks of > North America were taking on the same perils in just as small, or > smaller, > or craft than Columbus did. It's a matter of whether one is a > seafaring man > or not. > > If Columbus was such a "worthy man of his times" why was his > governorship of > an island withdrawn for unsavory practices with the Natives? > > It not a matter of presentism, its a matter of debunking childhood > myths. > > Anne > > Anne Pemberton > [log in to unmask] > http://www.erols.com/apembert > http://www.educationalsynthesis.org > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the > instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > ______________________________________ > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the > instructions at > http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html