Il presupposto dell’Aufklärung storica e teologica. Autori e tradizioni nelle Lezioni sulla storia della filosofia di Hegel

Abstract

Purpose of this essay is to examine the impact, with regard both to method and content, of the Enlightenment on Hegel’s lectures on the history of philosophy. I consider some historical issues that Hegel treats in his Lectures, and that bear traces of a long-standing tradition, e.g. the partition in ancient Greek and modern philosophy, the status of far and near East, the meaning of Neoplatonism and eclecticism (and the relationship between philosophy and religion), the main problems posed by Kant’s philosophy on the idea of history, the hermeneutical notion of mens auctoris from which facts and opinions are observed. The Enlightenment conveys a basic set of ideas that are eventually refined by Hegel: they have been decisive in defining Hegel’s historical-philosophical conception, and they have also deeply affected his main metaphysical views.