By Me. Cláudio Fernandes
When studying History, one always has the impression that there was a continuous and uninterrupted development of humanity towards an apogee, whose expression is the globalized and technological civilization in that we live today. And more than that:one has the impression that we are still moving towards an even more perfected stage, as if the future had been “colonized” by us. The name given to this type of “view of History” about its destiny — or “speculation about the meaning of man on Earth” — isPhilosophy of History .
Who first used this expression was the French philosopher Voltaire, in the 18th century, at the height of the Enlightenment. In previous centuries, man managed to develop scientific knowledge and, from that, created technical instruments capable of dominating nature. Modern Science gave man security and autonomy, characteristics that impelled him to action aimed at technoscientific progress. Voltaire's century praised these characteristics and interpreted the movement of history in this light.
Other 18th century philosophers, also inspired by the Enlightenment, such as the German Kant, developed their philosophies of History, always seeking a unity for all the particular events of human history, aiming at the discovery of the meaning reserved for man. In the 19th century, such commitment on the part of thinkers did not cease. The philosophers George W. F. Hegel and August Comte , a German and a Frenchman, respectively, also elaborated their philosophies of History. The first, highlighting the “march of the Spirit through civilizations”, whose greatest achievement would be the Modern State . The second, creator of Positivism , saw in History an inexorable march towards progress and had reason as a goddess to be worshiped.
The German philosopher Hegel elaborated one of the best-known philosophies in history
There were also those philosophers who had a negative philosophy of history, who saw the world as a compilation of sufferings, as was the case with the German Arthur Shopenhauer . Despite the particular characteristics of each philosopher of History, what is worth noting is that these attempts at unitary views of History have always accompanied humanity since the dawn of civilizations, even before philosophy developed in Ancient Greece.
Some scholars of the Philosophy of History indicate that the first explanations for the meaning of history, understood as an end to be achieved, were born with the Jews at the time of the patriarchs and developed with the prophets. With the advent of Christianity, this view spread across Europe and mingled with philosophical speculations. The Judeo-Christian view of History is eschatological, that is, it expects the escathos , the end of history with the final judgment. But what did the modern philosophers cited above, starting with Voltaire, do with this idea? These thinkers secularized it, that is, they transposed to earthly reality the eschatological hope of the Judeo-Christian tradition that prevailed until the Middle Ages.
Progress, reason and technology would be the promise of earthly perfection for man, as opposed to the hope of eternal life after the “End of History” and the “Judgment”. Final". Therefore, the Philosophy of History, despite being studied by few who are interested in History, deserves special attention, as it shows us that the search for the meaning of History is as important as knowing historical events.