NAJOP Volume 8 Number 2 2023

An Assessment of The View of Gabiatista Vico and Johann Gottfried Herder on History

Sophia Ojochogwu Adofu
Abstract

This paper assesses the view of Gabiatista Vico and Johann Gottfried Herder on history. The study relies on documentary sources in carrying out the assessment. Review method was used to appraise information gotten from documented literatures. According to traditional accounts, man and his deeds are defined as historical because they are swallowed in the stream of historywhich Vico and Herder contend with. The main tendency in their work is the attempt to prove the possibility of reason in history and the conformity of history to laws of teleological development intelligible to the human mind. This tendency finds its most classical expression in the rationalization of history which at the same time involves the radical historicalization of reason. For Vico, the history of his time were conceited in their belief that they could reach the truth of a particular epoch but for Herder he propounds a pluralism not elaborated in terms of all encompassing universalities nor an abliterating of differences, but rather a pluralism that celebrates differences while simultaneously enabling people to work together towards a better world.

Keywords: assessment, gabiatista, gottfried, herder, history, johann, vico, view
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