Core Concepts of Historical Thinking: Introduction

The paper is an introduction to the Historyka’s special issue about “Core Concepts of Historical Thinking.” It presents framework and assumptions which shape a profile and content of the volume. It shows understanding of “knowledge of the past” broader than discipline of history only, as well as the methodological characteristics of such an account. It pays an attention to the link between conceptual thinking and the meaning of subjectivity in the modern humanistic reflection. Discussion about “core concepts of historical thinking” concerns not an allegedly, abstract and static structure of concepts which would rule historical thinking per se, but it is focused on the role of concepts which are shaped in the practices of specific researchers and their interactions with the material analyzed. The paper also situates the discussion in the context of recognized currents and ideas about meaning of concepts in humanities, especially in the methodology of historical research. In conclusion, the circumstances of the volume’s emergence is shown