History and Other Disciplines

Because history is so ''human'', it can be easily synthesized with other disciplines.

Disciplines like psychology, economics, and sociology naturally lend themselves to
overlapping with history. In some respects, we can even think of history as the ''mother''
of these disciplines.
RELATIONSHIP OF HISTORY WITH OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES History and Ethics-
mistakes of the past have moral and ethical implication which serves as guides History
and Psychology-gives people an idea about the behavior of controversial leaders in the
past and their actions. History and Geography-when learning about historical topics. It
can be very helpful simultaneously study the geography of a region. History and Political
Science
History is a study of the various facts of human life and is closely linked with other
social sciences which make a specific study of different facts of human life.
Prof. Seeley summed up the relationship between history and political science
beautifully,
“History without political science has no fruit and political science without history has no
root.”
A historian is not merely concerned with the tracing of the history of the political process
by a narration of the episodes.
But he must learn the nature of fundamental political principles and basic forms of
political institutions. Given this closeness between the two subjects, the development
of political institutions, rules, regulations, rights and duties, law and mode of justice,
executive, legislative and administrative functions, economic and financial implications,
nature of bureaucracy, fundamental principles of state policy are all defined under the
constitution history.
Diplomatic history is a specialized branch of political history that deals with the
principles of international relations. Ambassadors are the links between nations and
they were custodians and practitioners of diplomacy.
Issues like—balance of power, cold war, international peace, and disarmament have
assumed great importance in recent times. Military history is an important chapter in
political history where wars, battles, campaigns, and conquests figure very prominently.
It deals with the causes of a war, strategy and war tactics, war weapons, etc.
History is very helpful to politics because the political aspects are a part of the whole
range of activities recorded by historians and knowledge of history would enable the
politicians to know politics better and play their role effectively. Prof. Acton has correctly
pointed out, “the science of politics is the one science that is deposited by the stream of
history like grains of gold in the sand of a river.”
History and Economics:
History is also closely related to Economics. As the activities of a man in society are
very closely related to economic matters, the historian of any period must possess at
least a rudimentary knowledge of economics. The economic history of any period is an
important branch of history and its understanding is essential for the proper
understanding of the history of any period.
There has been a new orientation in our historical outlook from the days of the
materialistic interpretation of history by Marx and such class struggle, man’s skill in
earning, arts and crafts, trade, business and commerce, land revenue, taxes, and a host
of all other economic activities of the past figure very prominently in history.
No doubt, it is true that during the last few years economics has become a very complex
and difficult subject, mostly dependent on mathematics, and a modern historian cannot
acquire a basic working knowledge of economic theory without devoting a lot of time
and leaving little time for the study and writing of history.
Therefore, a new set of economic history using economic historians have emerged who
try to study economic history using economic tools. At present, history is so closely
interlinked with the study of economic problems that it would not be possible to
reconstruct history without knowledge of the relevant economic problems.
History and Statistics:
In the present century, the writing of history has been greatly influenced by statistical
data. With the invention of computers, the collection of statistical data has become
possible. The historians have given up the former practice of using exact terms like
most historians or people, “wide support” etc., and have started quoting the exact
percentage of the people or the help of the computer and processing of enormous data
can be completed within a short span and systematic information can be collected.
Though the conclusion drawn based on the data may be known to the historians based
on the impressionistic evidence, which does reduce the value because it provides
concrete evidence for a previously held thesis.
Along the same line the use of the historical demography ‘viz-information regarding the
movement of people, births and deaths, fertility rates, immigration, etc., cannot be
possible without the means to process and correlate the vast and complex data made
available by various official records.
This type of detailed investigation enables historians to understand the different facts of
past life. A new branch called “Cliometrics” has come into a vague, according to which
the use of mathematics has come into greater play in the writing of history and
interpretation of numerous sources.
History and Sociology:
History and sociology are intimately related and a few sociologists like Auguste Comte
are also important figures in the development of historical studies. Karl Marx was also a
great historian and sociologist. Both History and Sociology are concerned with the study
of man in society and differed only regarding their approach.
In recent years it was realized that a fruitful interaction between the two disciplines was
possible and Emile Durkheim and Max Weber acknowledge the initial dependence of
sociology upon history. Although, history to benefits from the synthesis produced by
sociologists.
Sociologists exercised a profound influence on the study of history by developing
certain narrow areas of human activity. They adopted the sampling techniques and
develop their tools to minimize the subjective element. In brief, sociology is helping
history to study ‘social dynamics’ which is a study not of society at rest but constantly in
social change and development social processes and social causation are giving a new
perspective to history. India to our historians is now giving increasing attention to social
history.
History and Ethics:
History and ethics have a close relationship. Although a true historian is not expected to
pass distinct and sensitive judgments on the historical incidents and characters, he
must know about the ethical principle of the time which influenced the conduct of the
people in the past. Probably in the past, there was no reliable ethical science and much
of what followed was merely a reflection of the bigotry, partial and complexes of the
different writers.
In recent times an attempt has been made to evolve an ethical theory based on biology,
psychology, and sociology by the scholars like Stephen, Duprat, Dewey, etc. A science
of conduct has evolved. A historian must understand and master this science of ethics
to have a wider perspective of the issue.
History and Psychology:
History and Psychology are also closely linked. A historian must have to show some
psychological insights while analyzing the motive and actions of men and societies.
Historian work would be mere fiction unless he uses the discoveries of modern
psychology. The personal life and the environment of a historian have a direct bearing
on his decision and often import a bias to his account and render the much-desired
objectivity impossible.
The impact of psychology on history is evident from the fact that in the past historian
inquired primarily into the origins of war and ignored the result of war. Because of the
influence of psychology historians have undertaken the study of the results and impacts
of war. An understanding of group psychology can enable a historian to determine the
role of the masses in the various revolutions as Jingoistic patriotism has been described
as the cause of certain wars, but historians can discuss this cause with the help of
social psychology.
History and Geography:
Universally it is accepted that History and Geography have very close ties. It would be
practically impossible to study; certain branches of history without rudimentary
knowledge of geography e.g., diplomatic or military history cannot be followed without
necessary geographical knowledge of the region. Geography is one of the eyes of
history the other eye being chronology. Time and space factors give history its correct
perspective.
Prof. Michelet believed history was found in geography. He says, “Without a
geographical basis the people, the makers of history, seek to be walking.” German
philosopher Kant said, “Geography lies at the basis of history.” Herder said that “history
is geography set in motion.”
There are others like American geographer, Ells Worth Huntington, and Allen Semple
who emphasize the importance of climate as having a crucial influence on the course of
history as well as on race temperament.
It is a fact that many geographical factors such as climate, social, rivers, mountains,
sea, coastline, and mineral resources aided the development of the river in the valley.
Cultures as in early Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, and China. Herodotus, the early Greek
historian describes that “Egypt is the gift of the Nile”.
Even Aristotle and Montesquieu have emphasized the influence of climate on man. The
physical formation of the country such as Britain, Japan, and Greece with broken
coastlines had a very powerful impact on their history. This facilitated their naval
strength and empire-building activities.
Similarly, the Himalayas and the jungles of Assam have acted as barriers against
invasions from the North and East of India. The Himalayas and the Gobi and Mongolian
deserts were responsible for the isolation of China. The geographical discoveries of
America and a new route to India determined the character of World History since the
Renaissance.
Geography also plays an important role in national character formation and influences
human behavior. As we know the climate of a country greatly affected the civilization of
a country. Hence the knowledge of geography is very essential for historians. It would
be wise to accept the limited interpretation of geographical influence on man’s conduct
or his history.
Reference : Relationship of History with other Sciences | Study of …
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ADVERTISEMENTS: Prof. Seeley summed up the relationship between history and
political science beautifully, “History without political science has no fruit, and
political science without history has no root.”. A historian is not merely concerned with
the tracing of the history of the political process by a narration of the episodes.