Lectures on the Philosophy of History

warm-hearted original: "genial" preacher and mesmerized admirer of God's works frequently lets his personal quirks interfere with the objective recording of history.

In Friedrich von Schlegel’s Philosophy of History, we may find—if we look for it—a central philosophical concept. It is this: that humanity was created with free will and had two paths to choose from—one leading upward, and the other leading down into the abyss. If humanity had remained faithful to God’s original will, our freedom would have been like that of blessed spirits; this perspective rejects the mistaken idea that life in paradise was merely a state of happy laziness original: "blissful idleness".

However, because humanity unfortunately chose the second path, a conflict between a divine will and a natural, earthly will was born within us. The great challenge for every individual, as well as for the entire human race, is to gradually transform this lower, earthly will into the higher, divine will. Therefore, this philosophy of history actually begins with a dreadful and strange regret: that history exists at all, and that humanity did not remain in the timeless, non-historical state of blessed spirits.

In this view, history is a form of spiritual desertion original: "apostasy"—the clouding of man’s pure and divine nature. Instead of being able to discover God within history, it is rather the absence original: "Negative" of God that is reflected in it. Whether the human race will eventually succeed in returning completely to God is, according to this argument, merely a matter of expectation and hope. Furthermore, since Schlegel believes humanity has clouded its prospects yet again through Protestantism, this return must seem doubtful—at least to him.

In describing the specific traits and historical development of various nations, whenever his central idea fades into the background, the writing becomes intellectually shallow original: "platitude". He attempts to make up for the thinness of his thoughts with smooth and polished language. His desire to find peace for his own mind, to justify his personal beliefs, and to defend the Catholic perspective against the demands of the modern world gives his work a forced and pre-planned tone. This approach strips historical facts of their true character, coloring them in a way that forces them to support the conclusions he has already decided upon.