Paul Sonnino

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17th Century Europe

Professor
Ph.D., University of California Los Angeles, 1964

Office: HSSB 3258 Hours:
Fax: (805) 893-8795
Email: sonnino@history.ucsb.edu
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I have never been an orthodox historian, much less at the present time. I approach history with a combination of radical empiricism, existentialism, and incomprehension, and I am completely opposed to the postmodern combination of nihilism, preciosity, and political correctness. I believe that it is possible to enter into the mentality of individuals, whereas I do not believe that it is possible to enter into the mind of the universe. I do not judge. I believe that historians who claim to answer questions that history cannot answer are deluding both themselves and those who listen to them.