Thoughts about the “Outlines…”

Abstract

The author considers the preface to the Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man to be a synthetic argument in which Herder set out the purpose of his work. It was an attempt to, at least partially, reveal the plan according to which the Creator outlined the development path for the world and humanity. The author traces the consequences of Herder’s philosophical assumptions, according to which the formation of diverse cultures implies simultaneous questions about human happiness in culture and the possibility of building a comprehensive philosophy of human history. Herder is aware that he poses these questions because he belongs to an intellectual community, the existence of which gives him the opportunity to develop a comprehensive philosophy of history, but at the same time reflects on the nature and otherness of this community.