Today in Philosophy of History
Discussions of persons, events, ideas, and books related to philosophy of history. What is philosophy of history? According to Hegel, it is "nothing other than the thoughtful consideration of history." The philosophical study of history, and the analysis of history from a philosophical perspective, might involve epistemology (How do we know what we know about history?), metaphysics (Is the past real?), methodology (Is history an empirical science?), logic (problems in the philosophical logic of history), and so on.
Episodes
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Re-Founding History as Big History
This episode is a presentation that I gave to an online big history meeting, with a few changes made. The theme of the conference was “A New Big History: theory, methods, objects & perspectives,” and I attempted to follow the template of the meeting organizers as closely as I could.
The earliest domains of human knowledge, which include history, were fou...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Blaise Pascal’s Night of Fire
On Monday evening, 23 November 1654—371 days ago today—mathematician, scientist, and philosopher Blaise Pascal was overcome by a mystical experience. Pascal wrote out an account of his mystical experience and sewed it into his coat, which he wore until he died.
Pascal was a genius and a polymath who made contributions to natural science, mathematics, and literatu...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Voltaire and the Origins of Modern Philosophy of History
21 November 2025 is the 331st anniversary of the birth of François-Marie Arouet (21 November 1694 – 30 May 1778), better known by his pen name Voltaire, who was born in Paris on this date in 1694.
Voltaire was one of the great figures of the Enlightenment, and he was the first to write a book titled Philosophy of History. The modern tra...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Frederick Jackson Turner and the Frontier Thesis
Friday 14 November 2025 is the 164th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Jackson Turner (14 November 1861 – 14 March 1932), who was born in Portage, Wisconsin, on this date in 1861.
Turner’s “frontier thesis” has been a touchstone of American history since Turner introduced the idea, being both widely influential and widely criticized. Turner...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Saint Augustine’s Other Philosophy of History
Thursday 13 November 2024 is the 1,671st anniversary of the birth of Saint Augustine (13 November 354 - 28 August 430), who areas born Aurelius Augustinus in Thagaste, in the province of Numidia, then part of the Roman Empire, now part of Algeria, on this date in 354 AD.
In his monumental City of God Augustine gives us his “big picture” of human h...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Weyl’s Proper Time, Lived Time, and Metaphysical Time
Sunday 09 November 2025 is the 140th anniversary of the birth of Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl (09 November 1885 – 08 December 1955), better known to posterity simply was Hermann Weyl, who was born in Elmshorn, close to Hamburg, on this day in 1885.
Weyl’s mathematical and scientific background didn’t prevent him from acquiring a broad backgroun...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: The Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755
On Saturday 01 November 1755—270 years ago today—a terrible earthquake struck Lisbon, followed by a tsunami and fires. Tens of thousands died, a great many more suffered, and debate over the meaning and interpretation of the Lisbon earthquake rippled through European intellectual life, as the disaster became a point of contention between a naturalistic view of ...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: The Battle of the Milvian Bridge
On Tuesday 28 October AD 312—1,713 years ago today—the Battle of the Milvian bridge was fought between the forces of Constantine and Maxentius, both contending to be recognized as emperor in the west. Whether you see Constantine’s victory in the battle as the foundation of Christendom, i.e., Christianity as a civilizational project, or as the triumph of barbarism a...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: The Modernity of Philippe de Commines
Saturday 18 October 2025 is the 514th anniversary of the death of Philippe de Commines, who died on Wednesday 18 October 1511. The birth date of Commines hasn’t been preserved by history, and I’ve seen at least four ways of spelling his name—Commines, Comines, Commynes, and Comminaeus (there may well be other spellings of which I’m not aware).
Commin...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Foucault’s Archaeologies of the Human Sciences
Wednesday 15 October 2025 is the 99th anniversary of the birth of Michel Foucault (15 October 1926 - 25 June 1984), who was born in Poitiers on this date in 1926.
Foucault wrote a series of works that he called archaeologies and genealogies, which sought to trace the development of our épistèmé—our system of thought, if you will. Foucault sugg...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Kahler’s Bottom-Up Approach to Meaning in History
Tuesday 14 October 2025 is the 140th anniversary of the birth of Erich von Kahler (October 14, 1885 - June 28, 1970), who was born in Prague on this date in 1885. Like many European expatriates, he left off the “von” when he came to America.
Kahler wrote at least three books of immediate relevance to philosophy of history, Man the Measure: ...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Sputnik at the Beginning of the Space Age
On Friday 04 October 1957—68 years ago today—the USSR launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite of Earth. This action initiated both the Space Age and then the Space Race. The Space Race is over, won by the US with the Apollo Moon landings, but is the Space Age tapering off also, or is it just getting started?
Quora: https://philosophyofhis...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Revisiting Mesohistory in Gregorovius
In a moment of inspiration on Tuesday 03 October 1854, 171 years ago today, Ferdinand Gregorovius (19 January 1821 – 01 May 1891), conceived his multi-volume Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter (1859–1872), translated into English as The History of Rome in the Middle Ages (1894–1902). K. F. Morrison described this inspiration such that: “He saw Rome as a ...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: The Siege of the Acropolis and the Destruction of the Parthenon
On Friday 26 September 1687—338 years ago today —the Parthenon, which had managed to remain nearly intact through more than two millennia, was mostly destroyed in an engagement between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice. The Parthenon had suffered from neglect and damage over more than two thousand years, but 2,119 years af...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Dresden in the Augustan Age
One of the reasons I came to Dresden was to see the reconstruction of the historical core of the city, which had been bombed and burned out on 13-14 February 1945. The reconstruction of Dresden didn’t begin in earnest until after German reunification, and now the city has faithfully reconstructed much of its premodern cityscape in its historical center. The effect is, ...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: The War Triptych of Otto Dix
Otto Dix (02 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a student at art school in Dresden when he was conscripted in 1915. He was decorated with the Iron Cross second class for this service in the War. After the war, Dix returned to Dresden and produced several works of art reflecting his experience during the war, including a controversial painting, The Trench (1923), whic...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Adorno on the Possibility of a Philosophy of History without Meaning
Thursday 11 September 2025 is the 122nd anniversary of the birth of Theodor W. Adorno (11 September 1903 – 06 August 1969), who was born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund in Frankfurt am Main on this date in 1903.
Adorno was a prominent representative of the Frankfurt School who drew from influences as divergent as Spengler an...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Fall of the Western Roman Empire
On Monday, 04 September A.D. 476—1,549 years ago today—the last Roman emperor in the west, Romulus Augustulus, abdicated in favor of Odoacer, leader of the German foederati in Italy. There’s a story transmitted by several historians that the Senate sent an embassy to Zeno, the eastern emperor in Constantinople, in the wake of the abdication or deposition of Romulu...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Koyré’s Platonistic Philosophy of the History of Science
Friday 29 August 2025 is the 133rd anniversary of the birth of Alexandre Koyré (born Alexandr Vladimirovich, or Volfovich, Koyra—and in Russian, Александр Владимирович, Вольфович, Койра; 29 August 1892 – 28 April 1964), who was born in Tagenrog, Russia on this date in 1892.
Koyré’s detailed histories of modern science, particularly focu...
TODAY IN PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY: Max Scheler on Man’s Place in Nature
Friday 22 August 2024 is the 151st anniversary of the birth of Max Ferdinand Scheler (22 August 1874 – 19 May 1928), who was born in Munich on this date in 1874.
Scheler’s abiding interest was in philosophical anthropology, to which he devoted his last, short work, Man’s Place in Nature. I discuss this book and Scheler’s conception of the distinctive...
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