After all there are a variety of ways of knowing. To inquire is clearly not the same thing as to know. In my article in the Australian of September 3, 2003, I pointed out that the Greek word for “to know” was gignosco and that the Greek word historeo means “to inquire in or about a thing” (Liddell and Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon). In The History Wars Macintyre states: “The word ‘history’ comes from the classical Greek word ‘to know’, with connotations of learning wisdom and judgement.” I also noticed that Macintyre had made a mistake in his account of the origins of the word history. I noticed that Macintyre had spelled the name of my friend Imre Salusinszky incorrectly and contacted him to tell him. I was puzzled that a man like Macintyre, who enjoyed quite a bit of government patronage, was attacking the Howard government for its hostility to history and the history profession. Browsing in the university shop, I came across a copy of the book, bought it and began to read it. That year a new book, The History Wars, appeared written by Stuart Macintyre and Anna Clark. It was what passed for political analysis on the Left, with Robert Manne leading the way. In 2003 the Howard government was in power in Australia and Howard hating was at its height.
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