Hegel and Historical Reasoning

Abstract

Historians have long disregarded Hegel as a rigidly aprioristic thinker. However, they have not arrived at this view based on familiarity with his works. Usually, early on in their education, historians are taught that teleology is anathema to their craft, and that Hegel is an exemplar of this approach. As a result, they are routinely advised that his writings can safely be ignored. Nonetheless, ironically, much in Hegel’s narrative continues to be influential. He emphasized a number of seismic shifts that shaped the world over millennia—for instance, the passage from ancient paganism to modern Christianity, and from the Reformation to the Enlightenment and the French Revolution. These events, and their pivotal role, still dominate historiography. Yet despite the staying-power of much of this account, its author is still discounted among professional historians.