Philosopher of history: Some scholars argue that historians should strive to produce a purely objective record of the past. But historians must necessarily select which events to emphasize from an infinite set of past occurrences. Because this selection process is inevitably guided by the historian's contemporary cultural values, historical narratives will always reflect the biases of their authors. Therefore, we must abandon the ideal of a universally objective history. Nevertheless, this does not imply that all historical narratives are equally subjective, since some accounts synthesize a much wider range of independent sources.
The claim that historical narratives will always reflect the biases of their authors plays which one of the following roles in the philosopher's argument?
- It is a subsidiary conclusion derived from premises about how historians select events, and it is used to support the main conclusion.Answer
- BIt is the main conclusion of the argument, which is supported by the claim that historians must select which events to emphasize.
- CIt is a claim that the philosopher attributes to some scholars and subsequently attempts to undermine.
- DIt is a premise offered to support the concession that not all historical accounts are equally subjective.
- EIt is a piece of background information intended to explain why some scholars argue for a purely objective record.