Ali Parsa

The Mind of the Historian: Causation in Philosophy of History: a Case Study in Perso-islamic Historiography Ali Parsa

What Are the Underlying Causes of History

In this compelling work, Dr. Ali Parsa examines the universal human questions of why things happen, and what causes historical events to take place. In our everyday lives, we try to discern relationships among many different and seemingly unrelated events, in the hope of predicting what will happen. Historians do this as well, in looking back along the arc of history. Many people read historians' works and accept them as fact. But historians' writing often reveals far more about the historian himself, his time, and his culture, than about "facts" or "truth."

Dr. Parsa shows us how different historians interpreted exactly the same events, but assigned different causes to those events. This masterful revelation of the hidden agenda of history opens the reader's eyes to the subtle ways in which historians influence what succeeding generations know and accept as the truth, and shows us how history is close kin to philosophy. Rich with depth and breadth of concept and knowledge, this book provides invaluable perspective on what history is...and why it is important to understand the minds of historians.