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Universal history: Universal history deals with the history of mankind as a whole. It examines the connections and interactions between the various cultures and civilizations of the world. See also history, world history, historiography, cultures, civilization.
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Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments.

 
Author Concept Summary/Quotes Sources

Leopold von Ranke on Universal History - Dictionary of Arguments

Gadamer I 206
Universal History/Ranke/Gadamer: Ranke: Thesis: "Every truly world-historical action, which never consists one-sidedly of mere annihilation, but rather knows how to develop a future in the fleeting moment of the present, includes a full and immediate feeling of its indestructible value"(1).
Gadamer: Neither the privileged position of classical antiquity nor that of the present or a future to which it leads, neither decay nor progress, these traditional basic schemata of universal history, are compatible with genuine historical thinking. Conversely, the famous immediacy of all epochs to God is very compatible with the idea of the
Gadamer I 207
world historical interrelation. For interrelation (...) is the manifestation of historical reality itself. What is historically real comes out "according to strict rules: what followed puts the effect and nature of what has just gone before in a bright, communal light"(2). That it is an uninterrupted interrelation of life that holds up in the change of human destinies is thus the first statement about the formal structure of history, to be "becoming in passing". After all, it is only from here that we can understand what, according to Ranke, is a "truly world-historical plot" and thus also what the interrelation of world history is actually based on. Aim of the history/Ranke: [History] has no telos that can be found and determined apart from it. In this respect there is no a priori visible necessity in history. But the structure of the historical interrelation is nevertheless a teleological one(3). The yardstick is success. We have seen that what follows first determines the significance of what has gone before.
Gadamer: Ranke might have meant that as a mere condition of historical knowledge. In truth, this is also the basis for the actual weight that the meaning of history itself has. That something succeeds or fails is not only decisive for the meaning of this doing and lets it create a lasting effect or let it pass without effect, but this success or failure lets a whole interrelation of deeds and events make sense or become senseless.
>Universal History/Gadamer
, >Historism/Gadamer, >History/Historism.

1. Ranke, Weltgeschichte IX, 270.
2. Ranke, Lutherfragm. 1.
3. Vgl. Gerhard Masur, Rankes Begriff der Weltgeschichte, 1926

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Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments
The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition.
Ranke, Leopold von
Gadamer I
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Wahrheit und Methode. Grundzüge einer philosophischen Hermeneutik 7. durchgesehene Auflage Tübingen 1960/2010

Gadamer II
H. G. Gadamer
The Relevance of the Beautiful, London 1986
German Edition:
Die Aktualität des Schönen: Kunst als Spiel, Symbol und Fest Stuttgart 1977


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