Reflections on the meaning of history between doctrinal optimism and relativistic pessimism

Authors

  • H.C.F. Mansilla Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/5281

Abstract

The text shows the complexity of the discussion about the meaning and direction of history, mainly the major difficulty of ascribing any meaning to historical development in the present world. It briefly reconstructs the pessimistic position of the Frankfurt School, which represents a response to the conventional optimism of liberalism and Marxism. This response is based on a critique of the results of technology and in view of environmental problems. It finally sketches the moderate skepticism of Karl Löwith as an acceptable compromise.

Keywords: Theodor W. Adorno, historical evolution, historical goals, development laws, Karl Löwith, Marxism.

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Published

2021-05-28

Issue

Vol. 44 No. 3 (2008): September/December

Section

Articles

License

All publications in Ciências Sociais em Revista (CSR) are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International - CC BY-NC 4.0, which permits sharing, copying, and redistributing the material in any medium or format for non-commercial purposes, provided the original work is properly cited.

For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ 

How to Cite

Reflections on the meaning of history between doctrinal optimism and relativistic pessimism. (2021). Ciências Sociais Em Revista, 44(3), 173-180. https://doi.org/10.4013/5281