Kritik der Geschichte

A 'Critique of History' is more than antihistoricism or scepticism regarding the pretensions of various philosophies of history. 'History' in the modern sense of the word refers to both the way in which human beings develop in time and the way in which this is interpreted. Thus 'Critique of History' concerns a way of life as well as a mode of reflection. Its main argument is that 'history' cannot cope with the full range of temporal experiences which human beings go through. Jürgen Große presents four basic paradigms of doubting and denying the absolutism of history that have emerged since the outset of the 19th century. Although these have undergone some changes, they still continue in our time.