Sixteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

In its present state, the field of historical study is severely limited. Through a misguided attempt at scientific objectivity, we have excluded mystery and depth from our understanding of the past. This has left our history both superficial and irrelevant. Indeed, it has caused us to obscure the most fundamental nature of historical reality, which (like all of reality) is ultimately inexplicable by extrinsic, objective analysis. If we wish to approach the past in a way truly fitting for our subject matter, we will need to make the move towards an “existential history.” Such a history would give proper place to the crucial qualities of mystery and depth. It would find its fulfillment in relation to questions of ultimate significance, and thus, it would intrinsically be a matter of supreme interest and universal relevance. This new approach demands that history become an activity of the whole self, where the fullness of the past is illuminated through the historian’s work of “creative transfiguration.” In this way, the historian’s subjectivity and personhood would be welcomed rather than scorned. Lacking such an existential approach, the potential of our field will remain unrealized and we will be forever blind to the true depth, meaning, and significance inherent to the past. For our critical task of justifying historical study (and really, of justifying all the humanities), we must gain a renewed appreciation for “the existential.” In that spirit, this paper hopes to offer a unique and creative suggestion for the “existential” future of history.