THE LOGIC OF HISTORY 307 



philosophical view of the universe. We shall try to treat 

 our subject as impartially as possible. 



Hegel says, in the introduction to his Plianomenologie 

 des Geistes : " Die Philosophic muss sich hilten erbaulich 

 sein zu wollen ''' (" Philosophy must beware of trying to 

 be edifying"). These words, indeed, ought to be inscribed 

 on the lintel of the door that leads into historical 

 methodology, for they have been sadly neglected by 

 certain theoretical writers. Instead of analysing history in 

 order to see what it would yield to philosophy, they have 

 often made philosophy, especially moral philosophy, the 

 starting-point of research, and history then has had to obey 

 certain doctrines from the very beginning. 



We shall try as far as we can not to become " erbaulich ' 

 in our discussions. We want to learn from history for the 

 purposes of philosophy, and we want to learn from history 

 as from a phenomenon in time and in space, just as we 

 have learnt from all the other phenomena regarding life in 

 nature. Every class of phenomena of course may be 

 studied with respect to generalities as well as with respect 

 to particulars. The particular, it is true, has not taught us 

 much in our studies so far. Perhaps it may be successful 

 in the domain of history proper. 



If I take into consideration what the best authors of 

 the last century have written about human history with 

 respect to its general value, I cannot help feeling that 

 none of them has succeeded in assigning to history a 

 position where it would really prove to be of great import- 

 ance for the aims of philosophical inquiry. Is that the 

 fault of the authors or of human history ? And what then 

 would explain the general interest which almost every one 



