Passage A Central to the historian’s profession and scholarship has been the ideal of objectivity.
Topic
The ideal of objectivity in historical scholarship—what it means and how historians should embody it.
Framework
Present Debate
Main Point
The two passages present different perspectives on the nature and requirements of objectivity for historians: Passage A describes traditional objectivity as neutrality, detachment, and insulation from bias, while Passage B criticizes equating objectivity with neutrality and argues that genuine objectivity involves strong, well-argued positions that fully consider opposing viewpoints. - The "Most Valuable Sentence" in Passage A is: (P3) - The "Most Valuable Sentence" in Passage B is: (P2)
P1 (A): Foundations of the Objectivity Ideal
Here the author describes traditional beliefs about historical objectivity: historians are supposed to stay committed to what really happened in the past, keep fact separate from value judgments, and keep history distinct from fiction.
P2 (A): Facts vs. Interpretation
The passage expands on the ideal: facts should come before any interpretation, and if an interpretation doesn’t fit the facts, it should be ditched. Just because historians disagree about interpretations doesn’t mean the facts themselves are up for grabs.
P3 (A): Historian as Neutral Judge
This paragraph says objective historians should act like neutral judges—no advocacy, no propaganda, no bias, and no political involvement. Their main loyalty should be to historical truth and to others who value that same truth.