History and Historians in the Nineteenth Century

Beacon, 1959

People often speak of `the verdict of history,' 'the philosophy of history,' the science of history.' There is no agreed verdict, only individual verdicts; no agreed philosophy, only a welter of conflicting ideologies; no agreed science, only the application of scientific methods. We continue our eager and never-ending search for truth, but the sphinx smiles at us and keeps her secrets. Are there or will there ever be final answers to the questions prompted by our study of the human adventure?...