Jonathan Gorman Knihy

Gorman explores what historians conceive of as characterizing their discipline, in particular their views about truth-telling, synthesis of facts, moral judgement, and the history of historiography. Gorman also presents the ideas of philosophers who have thought about history. In bringing the ideas of historians and philosophers together, Gorman provides one of the most important new statements in the philosophy of history to be written in recent years.

Presents a study that questions the very ability of historians to gather and communicate genuine knowledge about the past. This title applies this general question from the philosophy of history to economic history of American slaveholders. It analyzes both the alleged 'profitability' of slavery and the purported causes of the American Civil War.