A Theory of History

This radical analysis of the role and importance of historiography interprets the philosophy and theory of history on the basis of historicity as a human condition. The book examins the norms and methods of historiography from a philosophical point of view, but rejects generalisations tht the philosophy of history can provide all the answers to contemporary problems. Instead it outlines a feasible theory of history which is still radical enough to apply to all social structures.

Part 1: Historicity 1. The Stages of Historical Consciousness 2. Present, Past and Future 3. Everyday Historical consciousness as the Foundation of Historiorgraphy and the Philosophy of History Part 2: Historiography as episthémé 4. Introductory Remarks 5. Past, Present and Future in Historiography 6. Values in Historiography 7. Moral Judgments in Historiography 8. The Concrete Norms of Historiographical Research 9. Theory and Method in Historiography 10. The Organizing Principles of Historiography 11. The Explanatory Principles of Historiography 12. The Orientative Principles of Historiography 13. The ‘Higher’ and the Applied Theory Part 3: Sense and Truth in History or Philosophy of History 14. The Specificity of Philosophy of History 15. The Notion of Universal Development as the Basic Category of the Philosophy of History 16. Universal Historical Laws: Goal, Law and Necessity 17. Holism and Individualism 18. The Philosophy of History and the Idea of Socialism Part 4: Introduction to a Theory of History 19. History Retrieved? 20. Is Progress An Illusion? 21. The Need for Utopia 22. Some Remarks About the Sense of Historical Existence

Agnes Heller