Interplay between philosophy and history: Additional justification for course enrollments across disciplines

Chukwugozie Maduka¹ and Leo Otoide²

¹Department of Philosophy and Religions, University of Benin, Nigeria.

²Department of History and International Studies University of Benin, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: chukwugoziemaduka@yahoo.ca.

Accepted 17 February, 2010

  Abstract

This paper seeks to revisit the bonds between history and philosophy and to unravel not just the enormously fertile ground lying fallow for so long between them, but also the inevitability of one to the other. In the main body of the study, it was discovered that any serious claim to explore what the term ‘history’ stands for must strive, first of all, to surmount some inherent epistemological, semantical, syntactical, interpretative, metaphysical and valuation (that is philosophical) problems. On the other hand, from the definitions of philosophy we are quick to realize that since historical events are contingent, they necessarily provide the veritable raw materials on which universalizable philosophical truths can be built. The study went on to show, for example, how the cyclic, progressionist, perfectibility and other theories of history are conveniently explicated in philosophical terms. The last portion of the paper dwelt on the contribution of history to philosophy from the viewpoints of the contributions of Russell, Darwin, Chardin, Huxley and Kuhn.

Key words: History, philosophy, temporality, interpretation, empathic understanding, values, cyclic theory, progressionist theory, moral progress, perfectibility, Darwinism.