This article discusses the issue of the conceptual accuracy of descriptions of social life, which, although fundamental for the social sciences, has in fact been neglected. I approach this task via an examination of Paul Roth’s recent work, which recapitulates reflection in analytic philosophy of history and sets out a view of the past as indeterminate until retrospectively constructed in historical narratives. I argue that Roth’s position embraces an overly restricted notion of historical significance and underestimates how anachronistic descriptions vitiate central historiographical tasks. I contend that the importance of conceptually accurate descriptions for history and the social sciences cannot be overstated.

本文讨论了社会生活描述的概念准确性问题，尽管它是社会科学的基础，但实际上却被忽略了。我通过检查保罗·罗斯的最新作品来完成这项任务，保罗·罗斯的作品概括了对历史分析哲学的反思，并提出了对过去的不确定性观点，直到追溯到历史叙事中。我认为罗斯的立场包含了对历史意义的过分局限性的概念，并低估了过时的描述如何削弱中央史学的任务。我认为，在概念上对历史和社会科学进行准确描述的重要性不能被过分夸大。