In other eras, Augustine, Leibniz, Vico, Montesquieu, Condorcet, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Spengler, Toynbee and other thinkers were interested in the problem. All of them tried to find and substantiate some one main factor of historical development or a sum, a system of such factors.

The beginning of the philosophy of history in European culture was laid by Augustine (4th century) with his famous work “On the City of God”. His view is that the central event that initiated the historical process was the divine creation of man, and then the fall of the progenitors of mankind and the first people Adam and Eve. The very same history, which began its countdown from that moment, appears in the understanding of Augustine as a long and purposeful process of "saving" mankind, gaining their lost unity with God and achieving the "Kingdom of God".

The concept of the historical process, formulated by Augustine, retained its dominant position in European philosophy until the 18th century. The philosophy of history as a secular science was formed in the XVIII-XIX centuries. The very term "philosophy of history" in the XVIII century. introduces the French enlightener Voltaire. He believed that the historian should not just describe events, present them in chronological order, but philosophically interpret the historical process, reflect on its meaning. Subsequently, this term entered the scientific circulation.

The German philosopher Herder wrote an extensive work "Ideas for the Philosophy of the History of Humankind", in which he gave a broad panorama of the entire world history. Herder notes that he is interested in a science that would describe the entire history of mankind from the moment of its inception. Herder proposes the philosophy of history as such a science. The formation of the philosophy of history as a special field of scientific knowledge begins with his works.

The famous compatriot of Herder Hegel was engaged in the philosophy of history. He introduced the term "world philosophy of history", by which he meant reflections on the manifestation of the absolute spirit in time, as well as the connection of history with the geographical environment. Hegel believed that world history is directed from East to West. Asia is the beginning, and Europe is the end of world development. Its main periods - the Eastern, Greek, Roman and German worlds - exhaust, in his opinion, the historical process. Hegel's philosophy of history addresses the present and the past.

In Russia, such prominent philosophers and historians as N. Kareev, V. Khvostov, V. Guerrier and others actively and fruitfully worked in the field of philosophy of history. questions that, in his opinion, should be at the center of this science. “Philosophy of history is the knowledge of the meaning of history, how it has taken place hitherto, where and how it has led and is leading earthly humanity within earthly; The philosophy of history is a judgment on history: it is not enough to say that its course was such and such, that its constituent processes are governed by such and such laws, you still need to find the meaning of all changes, evaluate them, analyze the results of history and also evaluate them.

As you can see, N. Kareev pays the main attention to clarifying the meaning and direction of the historical process, to assessing historical events. In his opinion, the subject of the philosophy of history covers a wide range of issues relating to the entire historical process: the role of the geographical environment in social development; cultural and historical environment; the laws of society; necessity and chance in history; sources of historical change; progress and regression in history, etc.

Already in the modern period, the English historian A. Toynbee gives his understanding of the philosophy of history. It is a special approach to historical material, when the very content of the entire integrity of the historical process becomes the subject of a special, specifically philosophical outlook and interpretation.

For comparison, other approaches to the definition of the philosophy of history and its subject are also of interest: the philosophy of history is a branch of philosophy associated with the interpretation of the historical process and historical knowledge. The philosophy of history is a philosophical and historical analysis of society. It is a logical consideration of human society stripped of zigzags and twists.

In the twentieth century, many researchers were engaged in the problems of the philosophy of history. A Marxist understanding of the philosophy of history developed. Concepts of "technological" determinism, socio-ecological ideas were developed, religious explanations of the historical process continued to take place. It can be noted that culturological and civilizational approaches to historical social development have acquired special significance. Today they have the largest number of supporters.

The subject and specificity of the philosophy of history as a scientific discipline can be better revealed and understood through consideration of its functions.

Functions of the philosophy of history:

1. epistemological- is manifested in the fact that the philosophy of history explores and helps to understand the patterns and content of the development of human history.

2. Methodological- lies in the fact that the philosophy of history is a general doctrine of the principles and methods of philosophical and sociological analysis of the development of society in the context of world history.

3. worldview the function forms a holistic conceptual understanding of the essence and meaning of the history of mankind, the attitude of a particular subject towards it;

4. theoretical the function satisfies people's need for a conceptual understanding of the historical process and forms the conditions for the scientific status of any history.

5. Practical the function gives a scientific explanation of historical facts, contributes to their systematization and classification according to importance and significance; represents the process of introducing scientific and theoretical knowledge about the history of society into the practical life of people, decision-making and their implementation;

6. predictive function contributes to understanding the perspectives of humanity.

The functions of the philosophy of history strengthen its scientific status. At the same time, it is able to implement its other functions: axiological, system-integration, critical, etc.

The main problems of the philosophy of history.

The first who made a systematic attempt to determine the range of problems that the philosophy of history should deal with was Herder. He considered the search for an answer to the age-old questions: where are we from and where are we going? These questions themselves represent an extensive field for research, but they certainly do not exhaust the whole problematic of the philosophy of history. A significant contribution to the concretization of these problems was made by E. Bernheim.

He drew attention to the problems:

a) clarification of the principles (general rules) of the analysis of the history of society;

b) the study of the conditions and factors that determine the historical process;

c) the movement and connection of historical events;

d) the mechanism of historical development;

e) the results and meaning of the historical process.

Over time, the problems of the philosophy of history have been modified and concretized.

At present, in a generalized form, the problems of the philosophy of history can be reduced to the following:

The subject and problems of the history of philosophy as a science, its method;

Sources and logic of the development of human history, its essence and internal mechanisms;

The evolution of social forms, the unity and diversity of the historical process, the meaning of history;

The multidimensionality of social life and the operation of social laws;

Features of the development of social systems in the historical process;

Problems of social determinism and social progress;

Periodization and chronology of history;

Specificity of historical space and historical time;

Principles of reconstruction of the historical past;

Driving forces, objective and subjective in social development;

Perspectives on World History and Human Civilization;

Culture and social evolution;

The relationship between man and history, the role of personality in the historical process.

Introduction.

1. History and philosophy of history.

2. The main characteristics of the historical process.

3. Man as a substance of the historical process.

Conclusion.

INTRODUCTION

Since its inception, philosophy has played a decisive role in shaping the worldview of people. She fought for her place in the spiritual life of society. She had a very hard time when, in the Middle Ages, tyology subdued her. In modern times, philosophy broke free from the shackles of Christianity and again occupied an important place in society. Moreover, rational philosophy pushed aside other philosophical currents and trends. It helped people to navigate correctly in the complex network of social life, to find ways out of impasses. She still performed important ideological functions.

The term "philosophy of history" was introduced by the French educator Voltaire in the 18th century. He believed that the historian should not just describe events, present them in chronological order, but philosophically interpret the historical process, reflect on its existence. Subsequently, this term entered the scientific circulation.

The philosophy of history can be expressed in different ways. Some researchers give a broad panorama of the entire historical process. Others pay the main attention to the theoretical heritage of the greatest philosophers of history. This work uses a problematic presentation of the material. This approach makes it possible to cover the most fundamental problems of the philosophy of history, to give their comprehensive and comprehensive analysis.

1. HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY

“Memory does not restore the past as it was, it transforms this past, idealizes it in accordance with the expected future.”

M.A. Berdyaev.

The philosophy of history is neither the historical science of individual states and peoples, nor universal or world history. It is “not a late fruit of science, a problem gradually revealed, which from the very beginning lay in any case in the concept of science. It arose precisely when it was needed, when it was demanded by the necessity that arose in the worldview. It belongs more to the field of worldview than historical research, and both of them approached only at the moment when reflection on the essential goals of the spirit required knowledge of history, and history required inclusion in philosophical thinking ”- E. Troelch. The latter also studies the whole of humanity, but it does not study philosophically, i.e. does not give a philosophical generalization of the entire historical process, but historically, i.e. each social organism is considered in all its richness and concrete manifestation. . In the course of world history, for example, all countries of the world are studied, but they are studied specifically, in chronological order and in isolation. Thus, in the history of the Ancient World, along with primitive tribes, already established state formations (China, India, Persia, Greece, Rome, etc.) are considered, which, although they had some common features, nevertheless represented independent social organisms. The historian focuses not on their universal features, but on their specific characteristics. The philosopher of history, on the other hand, seeks, first of all, exactly what unites all social organisms, what is inherent in them as human communities.

Historical science, unlike the philosophy of history, must observe the temporal sequence of events and historical facts. If the philosophy of history is an essence grasped in time, i.e. such an entity that is constantly changing, but nevertheless preserved, then historical science is a presentation of facts and events in chronological order. The philosophy of history has a certain categorical and conceptual apparatus, through which a philosophical and historical presentation of the historical process is given (progress, regression, social determinism, civilization, law, formation, social relations, geographical factor, mind, mode of production, productive forces, production relations, historical explanation, mentality, self-consciousness, historical consciousness, etc.). It is a theory of the highest abstraction, but a deep abstraction that adequately reflects objective reality. Philosophical-historical discipline is necessary, since it allows creating a certain theoretical picture of human society, helps people to navigate correctly in the complex network of social life, to draw appropriate conclusions from the experience of the past. But people rarely learn useful lessons from the past. Hegel wrote that “rulers, statesmen and peoples are advised with importance to learn from the experience of history. But experience and history teach that peoples and governments never learned anything from history and acted according to the lessons that could be learned from it.

Some historians believe that historical science, like the philosophy of history, has its own categories and is the same theoretical discipline as the philosophy of history. So, M.A. Barg singles out the following concepts as such categories: “world-historical”, “local-historical”, “integrity”, “structure”, “process”, etc. And he defines history as follows: “Historical science studies the patterns of space-time deployment world-historical process, or, which is the same, the patterns of the world-historical development of mankind as the resultant intraformational and interformational interactions of ethnopolitical communities that are carriers of the originality of this development. But it is difficult to agree with such a definition. Listed by M.A. Barg categories, in essence, are successfully used in the philosophy of history, which, of course, does not exclude their application in historical science.

Historical science is a theory of the middle level, that is, a theory of medium abstraction, and therefore cannot be engaged in the theoretical development of such high abstract concepts as law and category.

In connection with the analysis of the relationship between the philosophy of history and historical science, one cannot help but dwell on one important issue - the value orientation of historical science. All social disciplines in one way or another have an ideological character. But due to the specifics of historical science itself, its conclusions and generalizations are greatly affected by the worldview positions of the researcher. One and the same fact can be stated in different ways depending on the political orientation. Because of this, historical conclusions often lose their scientific character, since scientific results must be objective and consistent.

The German philosopher Herder wrote an extensive work "Ideas for the Philosophy of the History of Humankind", which gives a broad panorama of the entire world history. As the German educator writes, he was interested in science that would describe the entire history of mankind, starting from its inception. Herder considers the philosophy of history to be such a science. Herder's philosophical and historical work played a crucial role in the development of the philosophy of history as a special discipline.

Actually, the great Hegel was engaged in the philosophy of history. He introduced the term "world philosophical history", by which he meant general reflections on the philosophy of history. He divided all historiography into three types:

1) initial history;

2) reflective history;

3) philosophical history;

Representatives of the original history, to which Hegel ranks Herodotus and Thucydides, set forth historical events that they themselves witnessed. The content of the works of such historians is spatially limited, since they described what surrounded them and what they themselves saw.

In reflective history, the presentation of the material is no longer associated with the participation of the historian in the events described. The great philosopher broke this story into certain types.

General history. When describing the history of some people, state or the whole world, the main task of the historian is to process historical material from the point of view of his own spirit, which differs from the spirit of the material. It must have certain6 principles that serve it as a methodology for analyzing the material.

pragmatic history. It involves describing the past from the perspective of the present. Events, writes Hegel, are different, but they have something in common and internal. Thanks to pragmatic reflections, stories about the past are filled with modern life.

Critical history. In this case, according to Hegel, not history itself is expounded, but the history of history, an assessment of historical works is given, their truth and reliability are established.

Philosophical history. This type is a transition to philosophical history, when the researcher is guided by some general philosophical principles in presenting the material. Philosophical history, or the philosophy of history, "means nothing more than a thinking consideration of it" - Hegel.

According to Hegel, the philosophy of history is looking for some general principles in history that are inherent in all world history. Chief among these principles is reason. In this case, the German thinker under the mind understands the patterns of development of the historical process. From his point of view, everything real is reasonable and everything reasonable is real. Reasonable is what is necessary and natural, and what is necessary and natural is at the same time real.

The philosophy of history, continues Hegel, shows how peoples and states aspired to freedom, how for its sake all sorts of sacrifices were made over a long historical period. At the same time, she considers the means of achieving freedom. To this end, it studies the actual history of people whose actions stem from their needs, passions and interests, which play a dominant role. In addition, the task of the philosophy of history and the elucidation, as Hegel himself puts it, of the material in which a reasonable goal is realized. Such material is the subject himself with his needs. But he lives in this or that state, and therefore the state must also be in the center of attention of the philosophy of history, although a detailed exposition of the state must be given in the philosophy of law.

1. The concept of history. Philosophy of history: methodology, concepts, teachings. Specificity of historical knowledge. philosophical interpretation the meaning of history.

2. Models of the historical process. Unity and diversity of world history.

1.1. The concept of history.

The word "history" is widely used in everyday speech of people, in various, sometimes mutually exclusive senses ("history happened", "stuck in history"). The general scientific meaning of the term "history" means a successive change of states of any object capable of developing in time (the history of the Universe, the history of a disease, etc.). In the sciences of society, the term "history" refers to: - a) the past social reality, the events of the past social life of people; b) knowledge about past life in time, a field of knowledge that establishes, classifies and interprets evidence of the past; c) social reality in general and society as an organizational form of its existence, including its current state as the history of "here-and-now". The category "society" specifies the concept of "society", the concept of "history" specifies the concept of "society". The concepts of "society" and "history" are organically linked with each other: they characterize social reality, the joint activity of people, which appears before us as "society". At the same time, we digress from many specific events and consider its essential, recurring features, where it becomes "history". When social reality is taken in its specific individual-personal, space-time continuum of the "present", then the very concept of history becomes different. "History" in this case is (in the literal sense) a reality that is being created, the main content of which is meaning creation.

1.2. Philosophy of history: methodology, concepts, teachings.

"Philosophy of history" (a term introduced into science by Voltaire) as a concept of understanding the path of development of society, its ideals and goals arose in antiquity and is associated with the names of Herodotus, Thucydides, Plutarch, Augustine, Leibniz, Vico and Montesquieu, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Spengler , Toynbee and other outstanding thinkers of the past and present. Formed in the 19th century as an independent philosophical discipline, the philosophy of history in one form or another still exists, covering questions of the ontology of the historical process: the direction of change in history, the sequence of historical epochs (the logic of history), the specifics of the laws of the historical process, the relationship between history and nature, the correlation of freedom and historical necessity, the meaning of history, and at the same time questions of the methodology of socio-historical research of an epistemological, logical, praxeological, pragmatic nature.

The difference between historical and philosophical approaches to understanding and interpreting the states of social reality

History deals only with the past, it does not make predictions and does not look into the future. History looks into the past from the present, which determines the perspective of its vision (with the change in the “present”, the perspective of seeing the past also changes), but refrains from judging the “present” as a fact of history.

Revealing certain lines of development of events in the past, the philosophy of history seeks to continue them into the future. The philosophy of history considers possible, but not realized, variants of historical development. The philosophy of history speaks openly about the "present", relying on humanitarian knowledge and an integral system of all modern culture.

The classical version of the philosophy of history is represented by the Hegelian philosophical system. Being an integral part of this system, the philosophy of history embraced both the ontological questions of the historical process and the logical and methodological problems of historical science. Behind the logical schemes of the Hegelian philosophy of history, the "logic" of real historical events was visible. The coincidence of the logical and the historical as an expression of the rationalistic principle of the identity of thinking and being - this is the theoretical summary of the classical rationalist tradition in understanding, presenting and expressing the history of mankind.

In the middle of the 19th century, in the philosophy of history, which to a large extent still continued to work out options for depicting human history within the framework of classical rationalism (for example, the creation of the concepts of sociological evolutionism in the manner of Ch. a little later - the sociological concepts of E. Durkheim, V. Pareto, M. Weber, etc.), there was a turning point, which subsequently split the "harmonious system" of views on society and its history. Such a turning point is due to the introduction of a new methodology and methodology for studying social reality and new approaches to interpreting the nature of historical knowledge proper. In the very philosophy of history, its own foundations began to be revised. Dynamic social reality must be matched by an equally dynamic research and cognitive toolkit. With these requirements, even the Hegelian schematic representation of the historical process (note that this was the most complete and perfect schematic of the description and expression of any phenomena of reality in the history of rationalist philosophy) was not suitable. The diversity and multidimensionality of human history could not fit into any of the schemes proposed by philosophical thought.

An inevitable consequence of such changes in the structure of the philosophy of history was the idea of ​​a pluralistic model of the historical process, which became increasingly assertive at the end of the 19th century and especially in the 20th century. (W. Dilthey, J. A. Gobineau, N. Ya. Danilevsky, O. Spengler and others). This, it seems, is what the modern philosophy of history is limited to, each time offering a “new” model of society and its history, or undertaking an analysis and comprehension of its own means of description, explanation and expression in the historical sciences. It follows from this that the status of historical knowledge (in this sense, any knowledge is historical), as well as its possibilities to be true, are very uncertain and problematic.

branch of philosophy associated with the interpretation of the East. process and ist. knowledge. The content and problems of F. and., Standing, as it were, at the junction of philosophy and history and being the oldest of all theoretical. disciplines of history have changed significantly in the course of its development. Already in ancient historiography there are certain ideas about the past and future of mankind, but they have not yet formed into a complete system of views. Antich. thinking was alien to the idea of ​​the meaning and direction of the East. process as a whole. In the Middle Ages. theological F. and. (sometimes called historiosophy) (Augustine and others) ch. the driving force of history was considered non-historical. deities. providence (people are only drama actors, the author of which is God), and F. i. - derived from theology. In the fight against this concept, starting from the Renaissance, a secular F. and., means. J. Boden, Eng. 17th century materialists and especially J. Vico with his theory of East. circulation. The very term "F. and." was first used by Voltaire (one of his source works is called "La philosophie de l'histoire", 1765), who had in mind a universal historical-philosophical review of human culture. Herder ("Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit", Tl 1-4, 1784-91) F. and. For the first time, it is considered as a scientific branch dealing with general problems of history and designed to answer the question: are there positive and unchanging laws of the development of human society, and if so, what are they. F. i. 18th - 1st third of the 19th centuries was predominantly a theory of the global ist. development. At the center of her attention was the ontological problems: philosophers sought to determine the purpose, driving forces and meaning of the ist. process. During this period, a number of fruitful ideas were put forward. So, the enlighteners of the 18th century. developed the concept of progress (Condorcet), put forward the idea of ​​the unity of history. process (Herder), laid the foundation for the history of culture, opposed to a purely political. history (Voltaire), substantiated the idea of ​​​​the influence of geographic on a person. and social environment (Montesquieu, Rousseau), etc. German. classical philosophy, especially Hegel, gives a deep formulation of the problem of freedom and necessity, opposes the reduction of world history to the chaos of chance and the arbitrariness of "great people". Hegel's theory was the highest stage in the development of idealism. F. i. He tried to present history as a single natural process, in which each epoch, being uniquely original, is at the same time a natural step in the general development of mankind. He emphasized that the development of society is progressive, that it reveals progress in the consciousness of freedom, and not just a simple change. However, ist. the process for Hegel is only the endless self-unfolding of the mind, the idea. Hence the abstract nature of Hegel's F. and. and its failure to explain the concrete course of history. For the rationalist F. i. this period as a whole was characterized by speculativeness, an attempt to derive the laws of the East. development from abstract philosophy. thinking. (See K. Marx and F. Engels, Soch., 2nd ed., vol. 21, p. 305). History was considered primarily in the metaphysical. plan, as a sphere of manifestation of a transcendent pattern or destiny lying outside history itself. The force that governs history could be called differently: “Absolute Spirit” (in Hegel), “Reason”, “Natural Law”, etc. But in all cases this force remains ahistorical: it manifests itself in history, but is not created in her. Even considering the immanent forces of ist. process, philosophers could not get rid of metaphysical. their interpretations. Especially extreme forms of constructing history according to a priori logic. plan acquired in the German classic. philosophy. This speculation caused sharp criticism from positivism, which tried to replace F. and. as a theoretical discipline of history by sociology, and turn this latter into a "positive science" about the laws of development and functioning of human society. However, positivism did not overcome idealism and apriorism (which found, for example, expression in the three stages of social development constructed by O. Comte, corresponding to the stages of thinking). The naturalism of positivist thinking was profoundly ahistorical and neglected concrete history. Human activity again turned out to be not a source, but only a product of the actions of some non-historical. factors (natural environment, unchanging "human needs", etc.). Hence the acute conflict already in the 19th century. between positivist sociology and historiography. The task of overcoming the idealistic F. i. Ultimately, it came down, as F. Engels wrote, to the discovery of "... the general laws of motion, which, as dominant ones, make their way in the history of human society" (ibid.). This task was carried out by K. Marx. The materialistic understanding of history eliminates from history everything supernatural, non-historical. According to Marx, people themselves create history, being both actors and authors of their world-history. drama. But people create their history not arbitrarily, but on the basis of existing objective conditions. The results of the activities of previous human generations, being objectified at a certain level of development, produces. forces, in production. relations, etc., appear before each new generation as something given, independent of its will, as the objective conditions of its activity. Societies themselves. aspirations and ideals are certain trends in the development of reality. Thus, societies. activity is both determined and free, since history is impossible without consciousness. efforts and struggle, in the course of which ideal incentives and goals turn into objective conditions. This side of the Marxist F. and. was developed in new ist. conditions of V. I. Lenin, who showed the dialectic. the unity of objective processes and the subjective factor, which emphasized the importance of the creative initiative of the masses, classes, and parties. Materialistic understanding of history meant a radical overcoming of speculative F. and. Philosophy no longer claims to draw an a priori schema of the world-ist. development. The study of the past cannot do without certain theoretical. prerequisites, however, "... these abstractions by no means provide a recipe or scheme under which historical epochs can be adjusted. On the contrary, difficulties only begin when they begin to consider and organize the material, whether it belongs to a past era or to the present, - when they are mistaken for his actual image" (ibid., vol. 3, p. 26). This requires the historian to have independent philosophical thinking: he does not simply illustrate ready-made principles taken from philosophy, but creatively applies dialectical materialism. research method to its specific. material; historians contribute to the development of philosophic-historical. problems. In the bourgeois social science 2nd floor. 19th century traditional metaphysical. and ontological. F. i. gradually loses its former significance. Ontological problems, questions of theory ist. process depart to other societies. sciences, first of all to sociology, to-ruyu positivism sought to emancipate as much as possible from philosophy. But positivist sociology was not focused on the needs of the East. research. The resulting intellectual "vacuum" historians were forced to fill themselves, using elements of different, often incompatible with each other, philosophical systems. The struggle unfolded between positivism and the traditions of it. romantic historiography (school of L. Ranke and others). The crisis of positivist evolutionism in con. 19 - beg. 20th century contributed to the revival of various versions of the theory of East. circulation (O. Spengler, A. Toynbee, P. Sorokin). Metaphysical the problem of the meaning of history remains central. F.'s problem and. Neo-Thomism (J. Maritain, A. Dempf, and others) and other currents of Christian F. and. (N. A. Berdyaev, R. Bultman, R. Niebuhr and others). In con. 19th century in the bourgeois philosophy has developed, as opposed to the former, classical, F. and. with its ontological problems, so-called. critical F. and., which brought to the fore the epistemological. and logical-methodological. problems, analysis of the process and results ist. knowledge. It can be divided into 2 main currents: epistemological (mainly covers the anti-positivist currents of bourgeois philosophy of the late 19-20th centuries) and logical-methodological (mainly neo-positivist). Gnoseological theory and criticism ist. knowledge (the direction, the beginning of which was laid by V. Dilthey) is not limited to the framework of historiography proper - it analyzes the ist. consciousness in the broadest sense of the word. So, in B. Croce, the theory of historiography is only one of the manifestations of the "philosophy of the spirit"; in existentialism F. and. acts as one of the aspects of the "philosophy of man"; the neo-Kantian conception of history (W. Windelband, G. Rickert) is closely connected with the philosophy of values ​​(see Neo-Kantianism). Main the pathos of these theories - in the statement of the subject, epistemological. and methodological. the specificity of history, its differences from natural science and "naturalized" societies. sciences, especially sociology. This criticism was pointed not only against positivism, but also against Marxism. She contributed to the further separation of the East. research from theoretical societies. Sciences. "Analytical" F. and., associated with the positivist tradition, limits its tasks to the logical and methodological. a study of existing historiography, believing that the tasks of philosophy are not to prescribe the rules of history. method, but only to describe and analyze the real research procedure and explanatory techniques of the historian (see about this direction in the article Neopositivism). In the system of modern Marxist science philosophical and ist. the problem is being developed primarily. within the framework of historical materialism, which in a certain sense is Marxist F. and. (since he explores the general principles and categories of interpretation of history, the problem of objectivity and the criteria for the truth of social and historical knowledge, etc.), as well as within the logic of scientific. research (logical specifics of the historical method, types and forms of the historical description, the structure of the historical explanation, etc.) and, finally, within the framework of the historical. research (principles of periodization of world history, analysis of specific historical concepts, etc.) d.). Marxist-Leninist F. and. develops in the fight against reactions. directions of modern bourgeois F. and., denying the objective laws of the ist. development, ist. progress, objectivity knowledge, etc. See also the articles Historiography, History, Historical materialism, Methodology of history. Lit .: History and sociology, M., 1964; Kon I. S., The problem of history in the history of philosophy, in: Methodological. and historiographic questions ist. science, c. 4, Tomsk, 1966; Kon I. S., Die Geschichtsphilosophie des 20. Jahrhunderts, 2 Aufl., Bd 1-2, B., 1966; Vainshtein O.L., Theoretical disciplines of history, in: Criticism of the latest bourgeois. historiography, L., 1967; Markaryan E. S., Essays on the theory of culture, Yer., 1969; Gardiner P. (ed.), Theories of history, Glencoe, (Illinois), (1959); Meyerhoff H. (ed.), The philosophy of history in our time, N. Y., 1959; Danto A. C. Analytical philosophy of history, Camb. (Mass.), 1965; Hook, J. (ed.), Philosophy and history, N. Y., 1963. I. S. Kon. Leningrad.

About philosophy briefly and clearly: THE CONCEPT OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. Everything basic, most important: very briefly about the CONCEPT OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. The essence of philosophy, concepts, trends, schools and representatives.

THE CONCEPT OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY.
PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY A. TOYNBEE AND K. JASPERS

The philosophy of history is an independent area of ​​philosophical knowledge, the purpose of which is to study the qualitative originality of social society, the features of its development and prospects.

One of the first representatives of the philosophy of history is Augustine Aurelius (4th century AD). He considers the history of mankind from a religious, Christian point of view as a process of salvation, the acquisition by mankind of the lost unity with God. Only in the XVIII century. the philosophy of history begins to take shape as a secular science.

A huge contribution to the development of the philosophy of history was made by the German philosopher G.W.F. Hegel. From his point of view, history is a process of progressive development, "the unfolding of the World Spirit."

K. Marx and F. Engels adhered to a materialistic understanding of history. They attached decisive importance to the development of the economy and industrial relations. Politics, religion, culture are considered in Marxism as a "superstructure" over the economic "basis" of society.

Widespread in the late XIX - early XX centuries. received a civilizational approach in the philosophy of history. Its largest representatives N. Danilevsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee argued that every culture, every civilization goes through its own unique path of historical development from inception through prosperity to decline.

Arnold Joseph Toynbee (1889-1975) believed that history has a universal content. It is always realized through the personality and fate of each individual person, has a human face. Toynbee defines history as the relationship between the historical (temporal) and the supra-historical (eternal).

The object of study of the philosophy of history cannot be either humanity as a whole, or any individual nation or state. The object of the philosophy of history are cultural-historical types, which Toynbee calls societies or civilizations. They are units of history that can be compared or studied. Each of these civilizations emerges as a result of a socio-cultural challenge. Challenges can be varied: climatic conditions, relations with other peoples, religious ideas.

Karl Jaspers (1883-1969) believed that humanity has a single origin and a single path of development. History, according to Jaspers, has its beginning and its end. Its movement is determined by the power of Providence.

Faith is the basis and meaning of history. Only philosophical faith can become a single faith for all mankind. It is an act of will, but faith should not be opposed to knowledge. Any knowledge is based on faith. Philosophical faith is the awareness of being, its origins through an appeal to the historical situation.

The concept of "historical situation" is a key one in the philosophy of K. Jaspers. Each society develops its own historical situations, but sometimes the historical situations in different societies turn out to be close in spirit. This is the time for the emergence of philosophical faith.

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