SOCSCI 1100 – Readings in Philippine History: Module 1 Vocabulary

A set of key vocabulary terms and definitions covering definitions of history, historiography, primary and secondary sources, types of evidence, criticism methods, notable Filipino historians, and core institutional statements from the lecture notes.

History (general definition)

A discipline that investigates how human life has changed over time; commonly called the study or record of past human events.

Historia (Greek root)

From the Greek noun ‘iotopía / historia’ meaning learning or knowledge acquired through inquiry or investigation.

Kasaysayan

Filipino concept of history as a narrative (salaysay) that carries meaning (saysay) for a group of people in a specific time and place (Ambeth Ocampo).

Historical Consciousness

Awareness of the past that nurtures national identity and guides present actions toward future development.

Historiography

The practice and craft of writing history; involves researching, selecting, and interpreting sources to reconstruct the past.

Historian

A person who researches, analyzes, and writes accounts of past events to understand the present.

Primary Source

First-hand, original evidence created at the time under study (e.g., documents, artifacts, fossils, oral recordings).

Secondary Source

A work that interprets, analyzes, or comments on primary sources, produced after the fact.

Documentary Sources

Handwritten, printed, drawn, or otherwise composed materials such as books, maps, photographs, legal documents, and memoirs.

Archaeological Records

Preserved human remains and material culture—including fossils and artifacts—uncovered through excavation.

Fossils

Remains of plants, animals, or other organisms from the distant past, preserved in rock or other media.

Artifacts

Objects shaped or used by humans (e.g., stone tools, pottery) that provide evidence of past cultures.

Oral and Video Accounts

Audio-visual recordings or spoken testimonies that capture people, places, and events for historical study.

Historical Criticism (Higher Criticism)

A method that investigates the origins of ancient texts to understand the context behind them.

External Criticism

Assessment of a source’s authenticity by examining physical traits, provenance, and consistency with its era.

Internal Criticism

Evaluation of a source’s credibility by analyzing the author’s motive, context, content, and intended audience.

Fortiori (in historical context)

Idea that reconstructing the total past of long-dead generations is fundamentally unattainable.

Ambeth Ocampo

Contemporary Filipino historian who defined history (kasaysayan) as meaningful narrative conveyed through written, visual, or oral forms.

Renato Constantino

Filipino historian who described history as the recorded struggle for increasing freedom and higher human realization.

Historical Methodology

The systematic process historians use to collect, verify, and interpret sources for an accurate reconstruction of the past.

Callao Man

67,000-year-old toe bone fossil discovered in Cagayan Valley, one of the oldest human remains in the Philippines.

Tabon Woman

22,000-year-old skullcap discovered in Palawan’s Tabon Cave, an important archaeological find in Philippine prehistory.