Philosophy of history
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- For the work by Hegel, see Lectures on the Philosophy of History
Philosophy of history or historiosophy is an area of philosophy concerning the eventual significance, if any, of human history. Furthermore, it speculates as to a possible teleological end to its development—that is, it asks if there is a design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in the processes of human history.
Philosophy of history asks at least three basic questions:
- What is the proper unit for the study of the human past — the individual subject? The polis ("city") or sovereign territory? The civilization or culture? Or the whole of the human species?
- Are there any broad patterns that we can discern through the study of the human past? Are there, for example, patterns of progress? Or cycles? Or are there no patterns or cycles, and is human history therefore random and devoid of any meaning?
- If history can indeed be said to progress, what is its ultimate direction? Is it a positive or negative direction? And what (if any) is the driving force of that progress?
Philosophy of history should not be confused with historiography, which is the study of history as an academic discipline, and thus concerns its methods and practices, and its development as a discipline over time. Nor should philosophy of history be confused with the history of philosophy, which is the study of the development of philosophical ideas through time.
