Status
Available
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Genres
Collection
Publication
University Of Chicago Press (1988), Edition: 1, Paperback, 169 pages
Description
"[Veyne's] present book has some kinship with his sprightly theoretical work Comment on ecrit l'histoire; and he declares that its aim was to provoke reflection on the way our conception of truth is built up and changes over the centuries. . . . The style is brilliant and exhilarating."—Jasper Griffin, Times Literary Supplement
User reviews
LibraryThing member Devil_llama
A brief look at the nature of belief and the nature of historical study. This work is very valuable as a way of examining the different methods of doing history in antiquity as compared to the present, and the difference between believing in something and reporting something as true. It's an easy
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read, without all the obfuscation that often plagues books of this nature, although it is perhaps too redundant (in spite of being very short). It loses a half a star for the constant insistence that all truth is relative, and everything is true; scientific truths have no more claim to describe reality than any other truths. Not only is this demonstrably untrue, but he himself hits the usual brick wall that characterizes this point of view: when confronted with a view he can't stomach, he is willing to dismiss that view and deny it the status of truth that he grants to 'everything' (i.e., the claim by some of an ahistorical Christ; also, a handful of the balmier pseudosciences). Still, an interesting read, even though the author sort of waffles the title question. Favorite quote: "Historians are merely prophets in reverse". Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1983
Physical description
169 p.; 8.65 inches
ISBN
0226854345 / 9780226854342