Abstract

CHINCHILLA, Perla. Practical History: a Proposal. Hist. graf [online]. 2023, n.60, pp.35-71.  Epub Feb 13, 2023. ISSN 1405-0927.  https://doi.org/10.48102/hyg.vi60.437.

We propose to make a distinction between “scientific history” and “practical history”. The first would deal with the history of the “society system”, since it would not account for actions as such, but for the structural and semantic conditions of possibility of said actions. While what is called here “practical history”, takes the present as a starting point to deal with individual actions as such. Therefore, it would ought to be narrative in nature, and suppose intentionality with respect to the action, and, consequently, it would have to suppose a “moral” responsibility of the actor. In the current conditions of the functionally differentiated society, such an attribution becomes quite complicated, but apparently, it cannot be left aside either, since society continues to request, in some way, a history that builds identity. That leads us to the question What possible shape or format could such a version of history take?

Keywords : practical history; science history.