Czy historia musi być nauką? Czyli o roli wiedzy historycznej w przestrzeni publicznej

Discussions about the status of history actualize the need to justify the belonging of historical narratives to the broader practice of science. The pressure to recognize the activities of historians as activities of a scientific nature tends to sideline reflection arising from the dangers of treating the results of scientific/historical descriptions of the world uncritically. I argue that history, like other scientific disciplines, is not free from ideological and political influences. I point out that science, including history, is not independent of social context and pressures (even institutional ones), which affects the shaping of dominant visions of the world and humanity, as well as images of the past, in a given culture. I highlight, among other things, that the search for truth in historiography often leads to simplifications and manipulations, and that science itself can serve as a tool for justifying and reinforcing the current (but also past or proposed) social order. In this article, I argue that when considering the scientificity of historiography, we should ask questions similar to those posed by Paul Feyerabend. For example, about whether the solicitation of such status of history, basing it on the authority of science, does not limit the cognitive possibilities of the discipline, and whether it is necessary to defend society from (historical) truth as it is defended from other ideologies?