Abstract
Despite some obvious merits, "narrativist" readings of Hayden White's philosophy of history are generally inadequate. White's concept of narrative, his irony in matters of historical epistemology, and his eagerness to challenge tropological conventions can be understood as stemming from a specific moral concern. Drawing on 'Metahistory' (1973) in particular, the article shows that White's dissatisfaction with a historical profession studying the past "for its own sake" reflects a strong commitment to moral reflection in an existential-humanist tradition. Worried over the "acid rain" of professional historiography, White envisions a mode of historical thought favoring personal appropriations of the past, morally engaged interpretations, and, above all, an individual conformation with the "meaninglessness" of historical reality.