Does Hegels Perception of the World History Mean More Than Just a Popular Quotation?
… value of such approach. Hegel perceived history as a complex and organic process that was hardly ever comprehended by his contemporaries. Hegel used historical facts to prove that history itself displays a rational process of development, and, by studying it, we can understand our own nature and place in the world. Therefore, according to Hegel, the world should be transformed in order to fully understand the principle of individual freedom.2 The central theme of The Philosophy of History (1830) is that all the historical events are caused by reason which is the struggle for freedom of human kinds, i.e. “The only Thought, which Philosophy brings… to the contemplation of History, is the simple conception of Reason; that Reason is the Sovereign of the world, that the history of the world, therefore, presents us with a rational process.”3 In fact, Hegel’s perception of the world progressing toward freedom, rationality, and …
