Full Idea
If justificationists succumb to the temptation for statements in the past, we shall view their senses as given by present memories and present traces of past events; but this will force us into a view of the past as itself changing.
Clarification
Dummett proposes 'justificationism' as a replacement for 'verificationism'
Gist of Idea
If truths about the past depend on memories and current evidence, the past will change
Source
Michael Dummett (Thought and Reality [1997], 6)
Book Reference
Dummett,Michael: 'Thought and Reality (Gifford Lectures)' [OUP 2006], p.77
A Reaction
Obviously Dummett attempts to sidestep this problem, but it strikes me as powerful support for the realist view about the past. How can we not be committed to the view that there are facts about the past quite unconnected to our verifying abilities?