Filozofia dziejów G.W.F. Hegla i jej echa w poglądach Ĺ. Štúra

The Hegelian philosophy of history constitutes the ideal picture of development of the world as the process of progress in realizing freedom. Ontological subject of history is the spirit of the world (Reason) based on freedom. History is self-reflection and selfaffirmation of the absolute spirit. The state is the social-historical, political and ethical condition of development of the mankind. The positive result of the world development assumes fulfilment of two following requirements: firstly, individuals should be governed by their own conscience and secondly, the world (state) along with its all social and political institutions should be organized and administered rationally. Thanks to fulfilment of these requirements, that is, thanks to the realization of freedom at its objective and subjective level, a development of the world will reach its culminating point. In this way also in Hegel, what J. Burckhardt proves, ‘we find the Enlightening science about the endeavour to attain perfection, and about the possibility of improvement or also about so-called progress’. Already in the first half of the XIXth century Hegel’s philosophy of history was also clearly reflected in Slovakia. First of all, the works of a prominent representative of Slovakian Hegelianism Ĺudovít Štúr (1815-1856) prove it. Similarly as Hegel also Štúr distinguishes three methods of historical research. They are as follows: ‘primitive history, understanding one and philosophical one’, but for the best method of historical dissertations he considers the philosophical method which is nothing else but only rational comprehension of history. Štúr not only cites or paraphrases individual Hegel’s views with avocation but also modifies them with the intention of using them for his needs, and he even creatively extrapolates them on the new ideological meaning planes connecting, first of all, with the problems of cultural and national life of Slavs and Slovaks. Štúr’s interpretation of Hegel’s philosophy of history is still relevant today in such a perspective despite the passage of time.