the mistake of historical literalism

• The core mistake of mechanism in psychology is that it literalises functions and actions as discrete moving parts, separated from each other. … the mistake of historical literalism, that what is written in a history is what actually happened, a report of the facts, a verifiable account of actual events as they actually were … placing history all on one side and fiction all on the other … We can be as deluded about ourselves as about the world’s facts.
  
• factual history claims literal truth

linked mentions for "the mistake of historical literalism":

1. tendencies to literalise and scorn science
   One strong tendency of the vocational schools was to literalise with the scientific information about anatomy and physiology … Another tendency was