Philosophy of History (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

Hegel's philosophical history of the world is a work that grows out of a genre in philosophy that looks at history as the development of human abilities and charts the progress of humankind through a series of epochs. For Hegel, history is centered largely on political developments, on the deeds of the great historical figures, such as Alexander the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte, leading up to the modern nation-state. Moreover, he shows that history exhibits real progress toward the ultimate goal of freedom and that the modern period, the epoch in which he lived, brought this development to a culmination.