History & CultureMental model

Do great men make history, or does history make great men?

In 1840, Thomas Carlyle declared that world history was 'the biography of great men'. Herbert Spencer countered in 1873: before a hero can change a society, the society must have produced him. Without the printing press, the indulgence trade and princely interests, Luther would have remained an unknown monk in 1517. Today's historians therefore ask about structures and individuals together.

Useful: When someone explains a success with a single name, ask about the conditions that made that name possible.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

DenkwerkzeugGeschichtsschreibungMethode

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