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TRUTHINSPORTSHISTORY
tractsfromAreopagiticashouldmakeitclearwhythispamphletremainstothis
dayanimportantpartofnotonlyEnglishthoughtandpoliticalphilosophy:it
ispartoftheheritageofglobalhumancivilization:uWherethereismuchdesire
tolearn,thereofnecessitywillbemucharguing,muchwriting,manyopinions;
foropinioningoodmenisbutknowledgeinthemaking.”26
Milton)sreflectionsonthevalueofdebateandintellectualdiversity,andalso
ontheircontributiontotheoveralladvancementoflearning,belongtothemost
importantfragmentsofAreopagitica.Hewasconvincedthatevenwrongideas
areimportantinestablishingwhatistruth:falsehoodexistinginanysociety
shouldberegardedasuthedustandcindersofourfeet,solongasinthatnotion
theymayyetservetopolishandbrightenthearmouryofTruth,evenforthat
respecttheywerenotutterlytobecastaway.”Hecontinues,uItwasfromoutthe
rindofoneappletastedthattheknowledgeofgoodandevil,astwotwinscleav-
ingtogether,leapedforthintotheworld.Finally,Miltonisabsolutelysurethat
inallsituationsofconflictanddebate,truthwillwinout:
thoughallthewindsofdoctrinewereletloosetoplayupontheearth,soTruthbe
inthefield.(ł)Lether[Truth]andFalsehoodgrapple;whoeverknewTruthputto
theworseinafreeandopenencounter?(ł)ForwhoknowsnotthatTruthisstrong
nexttotheAlmighty?Sheneedsnopolicies,norstratagems,norlicensingtomake
hervictorious.27
TeMarxistsdidnotbelieveinGod,soMilton)sassessmentoftruthonascale
ofhumanvaluesunexttotheAlmighty”inimportance,wasdefinitelyofno
concerntothem.Buttheydemandedutheirtruth”
,andinordertomakeitwork
theyeliminateduallnon-Marxisttruths.”Atthe1stMethodologicalConfer-
enceofPolishHistoriansin1953,KazimierzMyślińskiarticulatedthetenetsof
historicaltruthtobeobligatoryforthenextyearstocome.Inhisassumption
workswrittenbyhistoriansofcapitalistorbourgeoisprovenancewerefalseby
default,becausetheyprovidedbare,truefactswithwrongconclusions,evalu-
ationsandsynthesis.TustheonlycorrectinterpretationwasthatofMarxist
dialectics.Myślińskiwrotethat
Itshouldberecognizedthatfactswiththeirindividualcharacterhaveexisted,andif
theyconcernthequestionofhistoricaltruthweshouldtalkaboutthem(forinstance,
thefactthatNapoleondiedin1821,etc.).Itisnecessarytounderstandthequestionof
historicaltruthinsuchawaythatitnotonlyreferstothetruthofasinglefact,butto
26JohnMilton,op.cit.
27Ibidem,p.399.
29
