Psychological considerations in historiography.
The author discusses the interrelations between historiography and modern, dynamic psychology. The latter tries to understand psychological phenomena and human behaviour within the context of the individual's historical development. Similarly, the historian seeks to understand social structures, events and tendencies of a given epoch as evolving from the antecedents of the social entity under consideration. Historical consciousness, expressed in remembering the past, is one of the factors contributing to the inner security, self-confidence and sense of identity of the individual as well as of the group. Both disciplines assume that events are set in motion by irrational forces and they share the tendency to ascribe inherent meaning to occurrences. They occupy borderline positions between the natural sciences and the humanities, and actually belong to both. The author believes it would benefit historians to acquaint themselves with the methods and results of modern psychology.
D002962:Civilization; D003469:Culture; D005544:Forecasting; D006663:Historiography; D006801:Humans; D011584:Psychology; D012919:Social Behavior