In recent years, there has been a revival of emphasis in historical research and writing on the practice of empiricism, together with the rehabilitation of those ‘epistemic virtues’ of accuracy, impartiality, objectivity, fairness, attentiveness, perseverance and the like that for so long characterised criteria for a professional mode of behaviour that would guarantee the credibility of the historian’s account. This has occurred after several decades when, under the influence of the ‘linguistic turn’ and its turn to the study of narrative constructivism, earlier claims respecting the truth value and objectivity of empirical work had come under attack among those espousing a linguistic approach to history. This article investigates the most recent efforts to integrate empiricism and theory currently being proposed by scholars in the philosophy of history and historiography and the epistemological and historiographical entailments that such an attempt necessarily involves. What is emerging at the moment is an effort to generate a synthetic approach to historiography in which elements of narrativism and empiricism are equally in play and continually modify one another in the production of historiographical representation and meaning. Whether we have yet to arrive at a successful solution to the manner best suited for such a reconciliation of empiricism and constructivism remains an open question to be discussed.

中文翻译：

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经验主义的局限：理论在历史思想和写作中的效用

近年来，历史研究和写作重新强调经验主义的实践，同时恢复了正确、公正、客观、公平、细心、毅力等“认知美德”。长期表征的专业行为模式标准，可以保证历史学家叙述的可信度。这发生在几十年后，在“语言转向”及其转向叙事建构主义研究的影响下，早期尊重经验工作的真实价值和客观性的主张受到了那些支持历史语言方法的人的攻击。 . 本文调查了最近由历史哲学和史学学者提出的将经验主义和理论结合起来的最新努力，以及这种尝试必然涉及的认识论和史学蕴涵。目前正在出现的是一种努力产生一种综合的史学方法，在这种方法中，叙事主义和经验主义的元素在史学表征和意义的生产中同样发挥作用并不断地相互修改。我们是否还没有成功地解决最适合经验主义和建构主义这种调和的方式，这仍然是一个有待讨论的悬而未决的问题。目前正在出现的是一种努力产生一种综合的史学方法，在这种方法中，叙事主义和经验主义的元素在史学表征和意义的生产中同样发挥作用并不断地相互修改。我们是否还没有成功地解决最适合经验主义和建构主义这种调和的方式，这仍然是一个有待讨论的悬而未决的问题。目前正在出现的是一种努力产生一种综合的史学方法，在这种方法中，叙事主义和经验主义的元素在史学表征和意义的生产中同样发挥作用并不断地相互修改。我们是否还没有成功地解决最适合经验主义和建构主义这种调和的方式，这仍然是一个有待讨论的悬而未决的问题。