Lectures on the Philosophy of History

The Germans—Leibniz, Lessing, Weguelin, Iselin, Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Schiller, W. von Humboldt,* Görres, Steffens, and Rosenkranz†—have expressed observations that are profound, ingenious, and permanently valuable. These thinkers explored both the general basis of history and the connection between events and the spirit that those events clearly embody. Among French writers, one must admire Bossuet for his refined ecclesiastical and goal-oriented teleological: relating to the explanation of phenomena by the purpose they serve rather than by their causes genius, which views the history of the world as a vast map spread out before him. There is also Montesquieu, whose incredible talent allowed him to instantly transform historical events into abstract thoughts; and Balanche and Michelet, who possessed a seer's intuition for piercing the surface of circumstances to discern the hidden forces where they originated. But if we are discussing fully developed Philosophies of History, only four writers stand out: Vico, Herder, Friedrich von Schlegel,‡ and finally the philosopher whose work we are introducing here Referring to G.W.F. Hegel.

Vico’s life and literary work belong to a period when older philosophies were being replaced by the Cartesian system The philosophy of René Descartes, which prioritized reason and "I think, therefore I am". However, Cartesianism had not yet progressed beyond contemplating fundamental ideas—Being and Thought. It was not yet equipped to descend into the concrete world of history or prepared to master its complexities. In his attempt to demonstrate the principles of history in his book The New Science original: "Scienza Nuova", Vico was forced to rely on the guidance of ancient authors and adopt classical philosophical principles original Greek: φιλοσοφήματα (philosophemes). In his investigations, data from ancient records caught his attention more than modern ones. He viewed feudalism and its history more as a supplement to the development of Greece and Rome than as something specifically distinct from them. Although he asserts at the end of his book that the Christian religion excels all others in its influence on human goals, he stops short of actually explaining this in detail. The distinction between the Middle Ages and the Modern Era cannot be clearly shown, as—

* From an academic dissertation, which is as masterfully written as it is profound: “On the Task of the Historian.”
† From his lively and clever pamphlet: “What the Germans Have Accomplished for the Philosophy of History.”
‡ Translated in Bohn’s Standard Library.