ÃÂÃÂ Agreement among historians is remarkably difficult to achieve, and historical events are open to a multiplicity of interpretations.ÃÂ1 When writing history, it is difficult to conspire up one, objective and truthful view upon an event. It is clearly evident that ÃÂhistorians down the ages have held widely differing views on the purposes to which these things were to be put, and the way in which the facts they presented were to be explainedÃÂ2The problematic nature of reconstructing history can be attributed to the problems associated with the current trend of modern historians to challenge and question the past. Through the reconstruction of history over time, it is evident that the meaning of history, the way it is recorded and interpreted has changed over time. It is through this realisation that historians come to understand that each time period has its own influence on the ways in which composers interpret and choose to reconstruct the past.
German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886), co...
Leopold Von Ranke was one of the first to attempt ...
Leopold Von Ranke oldÃÂIn medieval and early modern times, many historians saw their function as chronicling the working-out of GodÃÂs purposes in the worldÃÂ. 3Empiricism has its origins from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This time has been defined as the scientific revolution, a period in which science prospered. It is here where scientific enquiry became more so prevalent and this ideology was carried through the eighteenth century.
Through the work of post-modernists, the theory of knowledge aspect has been argued. Leopold Von Ranke made a multiplicity of arguments regarding empirical values. Ranke himself ÃÂintended that each historical period should be understood on its own termsÃÂ4. This means that when studying the past, we must judge an historianÃÂs opinion based on the context of their time. Through the examination of historical practices over time, it has proven difficult to provide society with an accurate portrayal of the truth.