The Need For The Study Of History

The study of history is commonly regarded as essential to a full education. It figures prominently in school syllabuses; history departments in universities are well- populated; and publishers’ lists are crowded with historical titles. Why? Because it is widely believed that the modern world cannot be properly conceived without a knowledge of the past: as a historian once said, the most significant benefit of studying history is discovering “the origin of things present which are to be found in things past; for a reality is never better understood than through its causes.” Besides this, the study of history can help men predict the future on the basis of the past, often by reasoning about parallel events. However, very frequent appeals to the past as a means of solving problems in modern society can sometimes be misleading. Thus, when studying history, men shouldn’t expect past events to repeat themselves infallibly, nor should they try to predict the future merely on the basis of very fragmentary evidence, underestimating the genuinely radical changes in society over the years.