RE: Is it true that atheism has killed more people then organized religion?...
September 6, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Quote:Re: the Crusades - I give little or no credibility to any pre-20th Century social or political history, I tend to think that within two to three generations we lose all the constructs to interpret past human behaviour accurately, we can only suppose things
I think that's an excellent point,and one which which many contemporary historians would agree. I think you're probably right. The 'what' of things may become clearer with new evidence. Eg that the Jewish slavery in Egypt and the exodus simply did not happen and that the David kings are myth.However 'why' just becomes more elusive..
Most competent historians avoid making dogmatic claims, even about evidence. Historians and anthropologists make educated speculations about meaning,but less about motive.
The discipline we call history did not even begin until Edward Gibbon,in the C18th. Even his towering work, 'Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire' is full of assumptions and moral judgments based on his times and personal prejudices.
Of course I think we can always assume the basic human motivation of self interest,but the nuances are difficult,at any time. We can never know even individual motivation with accuracy.We're always forced to rely on our interpretation of behavior,and always make implicit assumptions.
