French Literature Reviews - 2026
B. Binoche, Les trois sources des philosophies de l’histoire (1764-1798)
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas
Bibliographic reference: Bertrand Binoche, Les trois sources des philosophies de l’histoire (1764-1798), Hermann, "République des Lettres" series, 2013. EAN13: 9782705687540.
Bertrand Binoche, Les trois sources des philosophies de l’histoire (1764-1798)
Paris: Hermann, "République des Lettres" series, 2013
266 p.
26.00 EUR.
Release date: June 21, 2013
Overview:
By constantly dismissing all facts, the hypothetical genesis of civil society ends up depriving itself of any foothold; on the other hand, empirical history, by sticking exclusively to these same facts stripped of any rational connection, lapses into Pyrrhonism. Consequently, the split between genesis and history proves untenable. The core problem thus becomes how to infuse facts with meaning—what is commonly, and obscurely, referred to as the "philosophies of history".
The French historical tableau, the Scottish natural history of mankind, and the Germanodicy of history represent, in the final third of the 18th century, three major attempts to solve this problem. However, all three developed under specific circumstances, and thus involved neither the same meaning, nor the same facts, nor the same articulation between them. This study offers a systematic and meticulous comparison of these three endeavors, whose solutions ultimately prove aporetic—though not sterile.
Tracing back to these sources reveals not only how misleading the categories of "philosophy of history" and "historicism" are as they are used today, but it also sheds light on our strange inability to think about the future—that is, to construct a coherent horizon of expectation (even if illusory) upon which to anchor our mastery of the present.
Bertrand Binoche, born in 1959, has been a professor of the history of modern and contemporary philosophy at the University of Paris-I/Panthéon-Sorbonne since 2004.
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An article on this book can be read on the nonfiction.fr website:
During the late Enlightenment, European thinkers increasingly sought to move beyond mere chronological compilation to find an underlying order in human development. This period, spanning the late eighteenth century, witnessed a profound shift in how scholars conceptualized the past. By comparing the French historical tableau, the Scottish natural history of mankind, and the Germanodicy of history, this study examines how these developments arose under specific circumstances. Each tradition attempted to reconcile empirical observations with a rational framework, addressing the tension between abstract social genesis and factual historical recording.
The work argues that tracing back to these sources reveals how misleading the categories of "philosophy of history" and "historicism" are as they are used today. This return to the sources also sheds light on a modern inability to construct a coherent horizon of expectation upon which to anchor the mastery of the present. Readers interested in the history of modern philosophy and Enlightenment historiography may find this comparative analysis relevant to their inquiries.