Issue 103

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103"The study of history has value only to the extent that it is relevant to our daily lives."

2011/1/30

The speaker states that the study of history is only meaningful when it relates to daily lives. I hold a different opinion against the assertion for the reason that the value of the study of history doesn’t only lie in the field of daily life but also in various kinds of areas. What’s more, a study of any discipline does not always depend on earthly purposes; it can also be studied out of simple intellectual curiosity.

As regards the value of the study of history, it can also be reworded as philosophy of history, which concerns the eventual significance of human history, asks if there is a design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in the processes of human history. More important of all, the study of history spiritualizes the deepest wisdom as well as the profoundest contemplation of human minds, summarizes the most universal and extensive regulation through human’s behaviors. Such wisdom, contemplation and regulation is so representational that many questions in daily life can always find its answers through the experience of the past. Thus, there’s no doubt that the study of history contributes a lot to daily life in an obscure but essential way. （自己觉得缺乏例证）

However, not all the people should live like philosophers and historians. More often than not, people couldn’t see the influence of the study of history in their daily lives. Nonetheless, it can’t erase the value of the study of history. Firstly, just owing to the universal and extensive characteristics of history study, the philosophy can apply at the vital moment for a country, a nation. When a group of people encounter a dilemma, it is not convinced enough to solve the problem according to any individual’s personal experience, so people come to history for solutions. After World War Two, severe conflicts among countries are still existed; however, considering painful price in history, nobody takes large-scaled wars into account any more. The wisdom of history is intensified when the crucial time came. Secondly, every discipline has often been studied with some practical or theoretical aim, so does history, but it also may be studied out of simple intellectual curiosity. For that matter, even the study of history has no earthly effect on daily life, we cannot deny its contribution and value to the society.

In conclusion, the value of the study of history is far beyond superficial use or earthly benefit. Instead, it is a profound discipline that demands his disciples with pure hearts for truth and justice and at the same time offers its thoughtful achievements which manifests the obscure law of human race. In fine, as George Santayana has said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. “
In history, we trust.