War and Peace, Part 2: Second Epilogue, Chapter 11 summary
Part 2: Second Epilogue, Chapter 11 of 365 · 3 min to read the chapter
In Chapter 11, the narrator argues that history cannot function as a science while treating human freedom as a force outside all laws. By comparing history with mathematics and natural science, the narrator proposes studying infinitely small elements of choice to discover laws rather than individual causes.
What happens
- The narrator defines historical inquiry through human choice, external conditions, time, and causal dependence.
- An analogy with astronomy argues that even one action outside law makes scientific historical explanation impossible.
- The narrator proposes treating freedom as an infinitely small quantity and replacing the search for causes with the discovery of laws.
- Mathematics provides a model by integrating unknown small quantities instead of continuing causal analysis.
- Newton and natural science illustrate the search for shared properties, which history must apply to interconnected human choices.
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What approach does the narrator recommend for making history scientific?
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