Proceedings of the XXII World Congress of Philosophy

Volume 53, 2008

Theory of Knowledge

Kaifeng Huang
Pages 377-381

历史认识与历史评价

By exploring the inner relationship between historical understanding and historical evaluation, this essay argues that the understanding and the evaluation of history are two indispensable parts of a full process of historical study. There is a unification between the subjectivity of evaluation and the objectivity of knowledge. Understanding history is not just for respecting the facts, but for exploring the influence of the past on the social progress nowadays. Only by combining the assessment of value and the understanding of past facts, can an integrated research process come into being. Evaluation never stops so long as the understanding of historical fact goes on. For obtaining an understanding of historical objectivity, one needs to cultivate his correct, reasonable value and philosophy, to conduct his research in accordance with the value of promoting social progress and with the people as the subject. A correct and reasonable concept of value helps historians to acquire objectivity in their historical knowledge; even so, objectivity comes first, for it is a symbol for historical study becomes science. A past which once existed, after all, shapes and prescribes the limit of historical evaluation.