Theory of History
- Chasw
- Posts: 153
- Joined: September 1st, 2012, 9:13 am
- Favorite Philosopher: GWF Hegel
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Theory of History
Marx and Engels took this to an arguably more-refined level by describing how history's fits and starts actually reflect a dialectic principle at work. For example, someone invents and perfects a machine to weave woolen cloth rapidly with minimal need for human attention. That in turn triggers large scale social changes that spill over into politics, often violently. Furthermore, because philosophers now understand how this dialectic mechanism works, they can not only predict future trends, but actually change the course of history. Marxist predictive power has been thoroughly discredited, but Marxists actually did change the course of history. The Bolsheviks proudly called themselves "militant philosophers". They were also right IMO, in claiming a person's psychological make up and political tendencies are shaped by the way they make a living and their stake in ownership of the means of production.
I'm somewhere in-between on this, sort of a neo-Right Hegelian. I subscribe to the claim that whoever or whatever created the first lifeform, created an organism containing a unique Idea, namely the inherent biological capacity to eventually produce sentient animals. In that way the Idea (Absolute Spirit) became aware of itself. From then on, this collective Spirit has been struggling against Evil in pursuit of freedom, happiness, etc. Even understanding this, we still don't have any particular predictive powers. Individually we are small and our teeming planet is very large, seemingly out of control, but perhaps on an evolutionary course that will keep the Idea going.
What do you think? - CW
2023/2024 Philosophy Books of the Month
Mark Victor Hansen, Relentless: Wisdom Behind the Incomparable Chicken Soup for the Soul
by Mitzi Perdue
February 2023
Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature: How Civilization Destroys Happiness
by Chet Shupe
March 2023