The History of Ideas

Abstract

PROBABLY almost everyone attending the Annual Meetings of the American Historical Association, and even more this year's combined North American meeting, will derive encouragement from seeing historical scholarship actively represented by such a strong professional corps. As a group it seems to possess the capacity of knowing most of the events in six thousand years of human history, while it is devoted to filling the pages of history that for one reason or another have so far remained blank. But at the same time many of us will feel apprehensive about the course of development that our historical studies have been taking. The programs of our meetings clearly demonstrate the continuous growth of specialization and, with it, the danger of the fragmentation of historical scholarship. In spite of the eminent position that history holds in general education, historical thought probably does not exercise the same strong influence on the formation of the philosophy of life among our intellectual leaders as was true fifty years ago. The specialization of historiographical interests is at least partly responsible for this decline. There are some fundamental questions that historians are unable to answer satisfactorily at present.