 Herder has deep philosophical reasons for this choice, and hence for assigning psychology and interpretation a central role in historiography. To begin with, he has negative reasons directed against traditional political-military historiography. Why should historiography focus on the “great” political and military deeds and events of the past, after all? There are several possible answers: (1) A first would be that they are fascinating or morally edifying. But Herder will not accept this. For one thing, he denies that mere fascination or curiosity is a sufficiently serious motive for doing historiography. For another thing, his antiauthoritarianism, antimilitarism, and borderless humanitarianism cause him to find the acts of political domination, war, and empire that make up the vast bulk of these “great” deeds and events not morally edifying but morally repugnant.