Abstract
Contemporary historical theory is in a state of disarray in the face of postmodernist challenges to the notion of objective reality in the social sciences. This crisis has roots extending back 150 years, however, as subjectivity has increasingly become central to the philosophy of history since the heyday of historicism and idealism. The author traces this development in historical theory since the mid-19th century and proposes a solution to the current lack of consensus among historians on the epistemological and philosophical underpinnings of their discipline: a common effort to establish a historical ethics analogous to ongoing efforts among natural scientists to establish scientific ethics (e.g., regarding genetic engineering). Entailing a focus on what should be fundamental standards for academic research, this should enable historians to at least agree on a common "working" reality even if the existence of an objective one cannot be proven to everyone's satisfaction.