《史学原论》的缘起及其思想

The Origin and Ideas of Introduction to the Study of History

普法战争后,法国人认为战败的原因不只在于军事,他们也将战败归之于智性上的落后。法国史学界,尤其是曾经留学德国的史家们,试图推动历史教育改革。大学的历史教育开始教导学生实作历史研究,让他们根据方法学的要求从事论文写作。当时担任巴黎大学历史系方法学讲座的瑟诺博司在推动大学历史教育改革时,也与同事朗格诺瓦共同出版方法学教学用的《史学原论》。瑟诺博司处在法国实证主义的大传统中,他的历史观基本上承袭着实证主义的科学精神:一方面强调将历史知识建立在可信的史料之上,另方面以系统的人类历史活动分类重现人类过去的基本图像。然而,他在历史解释的方法学中,坚持以人物为轴心解释社会结构的变迁。这种对社会科学的不信任以及对历史发展规律的否定,给《史学原论》添加了唯心思想的因素。

The French defeat in 1870 was partly attributed to non-military causes, in particular, the perceived intellectual deficiency of France. Historians therefore urgently called for a reform of historical education. The movement was mostly driven by those who had studied in Germany. Universities demanded students a better understanding of history courses and required them to conduct their own researches. Seignobos, a professor of history at the University of Paris, published Introduction to the Study of History during his involvement in the reform movement. Seignobos was an heir of the great tradition of French positivism. He held the fundamental belief that history as a discipline could become science, firstly by turning historical facts into systematic records of human actions and secondly by basing historical knowledge on solid historical sources.But he valued the influence of people in the interpretation of history and rejected the laws of historical development, which was somehow idealistic.