Philosophy of history

Because history as an ontological given is one of the greatest topics that are contemporaneous with the human self. And if historians consider that humans are the makers of historical events; then philosophers focus mainly on humans as beings who create history in this existence. And because philosophy is concerned with history but from a different perspective than the topics of the science of history, as history provides philosophy with the raw material on which it establishes its philosophy of human history. And because philosophers of history are interested in interpreting the past and its historical events, and they turn history into a subject of philosophical engagement in their diligent pursuit to formulate philosophical interpretive models of human history, philosophers of history do not seek to study facts and detailed events as historians do; rather, they aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of human history and attempt to interpret it rationally, and an interpretation that places the human self in confrontation with its inevitable fate in this existence, revealing the main driver of history, and striving to formulate laws that explain the course of human history. This study, from the Namaa Center, presents an overview of many philosophical theories and models that have sought to interpret human history, foremost among them the theory of divine care, followed by many theories in contemporary Western thought, such as the theory of progress, then the theory of the cyclical succession of civilizations, and other interpretive models. Awareness of the interpretive models generated by human minds throughout ages is essential for understanding the course of human development and mental activities, as it is important in the way of developing rational thought to achieve the highest levels of temporal, spatial, and qualitative awareness of successive civilizations.