How to conduct research into history by assembling certaintiesSome guidelines drawing from Wittgenstein’s and Otega y Gasset’s later works

  1. José María Ariso
Journal:
Cuadernos salmantinos de filosofía

ISSN: 0210-4857

Year of publication: 2022

Issue: 49

Pages: 255-268

Type: Article

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More publications in: Cuadernos salmantinos de filosofía

Abstract

José Ortega y Gasset relied on his notion of ‘belief’ to argue that historical studies should consist, above all, in assembling the distinctive and characteristic beliefs of a historical period: for, in this way, we could know what was regarded as reality within that context, which might allow us to gain a better understanding of the historical events under study. As I will show in this paper, Ludwig Wittgenstein did not evince an interest in historical studies; yet his notion of ‘certainty’ is very similar to Ortega y Gasset’s conception of ‘belief’, in addition to which certainty in Wittgenstein’s sense may be of great help to better understand not only how historical studies can be conducted by following Ortega y Gasset’s suggestions, but also which risks are entailed by such studies.

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