Abstract
Critiques Michel Foucault's 'The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences' (1970) and offers a "modest humanist" alternative to Foucault's position on the "nature and problems of the human sciences." While Foucault is correct in asserting that human ideas are merely theoretical constructs and human reality might only be defined in terms of its social context, his firm denial of the existence of objective knowledge and human agency hinders constructive considerations of continuity and change in history. Although humans may not have the ability to discern objective truths based on reason, the classical humanist faith in human freedom and creativity provides a useful mechanism for transcending Foucault's restrictive denial of human agency. By acknowledging both the restraints of social context and the existence of freedom and rational knowledge, historians might demonstrate how humans participate in obtaining and disseminating knowledge.