What is History?

What is history? This may seem like it is a fairly simple question, but history can be looked at and considered in a variety of different ways. Studying history can be challenging, but understanding it can be even harder and more complex.

History is said to be “the story of human experience”. (http://www.studentsfriend.com/onhist/nature.html) According to “Wise Geek,” history is the study of the past. It is everything that has happened up until the present. (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-history.htm) There are many different aspec

ts of history that could be considered, and some people categorize history into different subjects or topics. You may look at physical history, cultural history, or political history, but that is not what I will be focusing on. These are ways to look at history, but not the main types in which history can be classified or determined.

In Western Civilization, four main types of history are known and studied: linear history, cyclic history, the Hegelian Theory of History, and vortex history. Each type is unique and looks at history in a very different way.

Linear history, vortex history, and cyclic history are very easy to distinguish from each other. Linear history is the way that most people think of history. It is the idea of a timeline, the idea that everything happens in order. Linear history is the way history is presented in textbooks, and it is the type of history that students learn about in school. Cyclic history is a theory which says that the major forces that motivate human actions return in a cycle, as a result of human emotions and beliefs. It is an idea that says you are born and reborn again. “The theory of cyclic history was considered in A.E. Van Vogt's 1950 science-fictio

n novel, The Voyage of the Space Beagle.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclic_history) This theory also says that another round of religious cycling may be coming, probably to America, where religion is still very important. Vortex, or vortextual history, was introduced by Yeats, an Irish poet. He thought that history was like a gyer with a mirror. A gyer is a tornado, therefore Yeats’s idea was that events that occurred in history were big, and then became small, like you would imagine the swirling of a tornado to be. He believed that the events in history were always changing and never the same. These three types are very interesting, but I believe in another type of history.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel introduced the Hegelian Theory of History. He was born on August 27, 1770. He studied theology at Tübingen, was a family tutor, and edited the Kritische Journal der Philosophie. From these three facts, you can see that Hegel

was a very intelligent and wise person. Hegel's philosophy eventually turned him into a loyal supporter of the authoritarian state and hater of democratic measures, especially the English Reform Bill. “His political philosophy is set out in The Philosophy of Right, and his lecture notes on the History of Philosophy, Philosophy of History and of Art, the latter an important contribution to aesthetics, were published posthumously.” Hegel died during a cholera epidemic in 1831. (http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/hegel.html)

I believe in the Hegelian Theory of History. Hegel introduced this philosophy, and it is often called a “dialectic” (a word that originates in Ancient Greece), which is “a progression in which each successive movement emerges as a solution to the contradictions inherent in the preceding movement.” (http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/philosophy/history/hegel_philosophy_history.html) In simpler terms, this means that everything that happens, happens as a result or follow-up to something that occurred before it. Dialectic can simply be understood as cause and effect. One thing happens as a result of a preceding event. I believe that this is a very logical way to look at history.

The three other types of history that were mentioned above are respectable, but the Hegelian Theory of History is the most understandable and reasonable. Everything happens in order, but happens because of an event before it. If you look at this statement, and really think about it, it is true. We would not wake up in the morning if we never fell asleep. We would not walk into our house if we did not first open the door. The Hegelian Theory of History makes complete and total sense. The Hegelian Theory could be looked at as linear history with a bit more explanation and reason to it. Instead of things only happening in a consecutive order, Hegel proposed that things happen this way for a reason and because of a previous event. You will find that by looking at history in this way, everything that you know and learn will come together and make much more sense.

The Hegelian Theory of History consists of an expression that is well known. The expression could be looked at as a word problem; thesis + antithesis = synthesis. Even without know the meanings of these words, this idea seems fairly simple, and it is. This expression is usually explained in the following way: “The thesis is an intellectual proposition. The antithesis is simply the negation of the thesis, a reaction to the proposition. The synthesis solves the conflict between the thesis and antithesis by reconciling their common truths, and forming a new proposition.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thesis,_antithesis,_synthesis) The main idea of this expression is comprehensible and can easily be grasped. History very much happens in the order of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. Everything happens for a reason.

The Hegelian Theory of History is an excellent way to explain the events of the past. By knowing that it was proposed by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a very intellectual and gifted man, you can realize that it is a legitimate way to look at history. I believe that an outsider who is not very familiar with studying history would like this theory because of the fact that it is very logical. Events are easier to remember by looking at history in this way. In conclusion, think of history like Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel did, and you will fall in love with it even more.

Picture Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hegel.jpg