The Representation of Historical Uncertainties as the Outcome of Competing and Incompatible Certainties

This study delves into the ontological implications associated with ‘data’ and ‘capta’, highlighting the profound importance of contextual factors and interpretation within the realm of critical discourse. More specifically, ‘data’, encapsulating the notion of objective observations of facts, differ from ‘capta’, which encompass selections, opinions, controversies, and debates. These capta elements contribute interest and added value to scholarly knowledge. The formalised separation of data and capta proves to be pivotal in shaping research practices conducive to a critical approach to knowledge production. Upon an evaluation of the efficacy of existing technologies in addressing this issue, the Conjectures model is introduced as a potential solution. This model aims to explicitly represent capta while concurrently facilitating the evolution of critical discourse within a one Knowledge Graph designed to capture complex information within a particular domain. To underscore our point, an illustrative example is drawn from the field of historiography.