Why Study History

Abstract

The rich and famous have looked down upon history for most of the 20th century. In 1916, the pioneer car manufacturer, Henry Ford, declared „History is bunk‟ because it‟s an unwanted vestige of tradition. On the other hand, in 2005, Thomas Friedman, thought the past was overloaded with memories, these remembrances were the assassins of dreams and any society with more memories than dreams was destined to decay. Contrary to this, we argue here that history has four distinct uses, it is an aesthetic guide and moral teacher like biographies, it has a utilitarian value as a rear view mirror, it is a political device to legitimise nations and it is one epistemological tool to understand society.

KeywHistoriography; Historical ords: History; thinking