The Recurrence of the End Times

Michael J. Colebrook

ISBN 10: 1793651361 / ISBN 13: 9781793651365

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, US, 2025

About this Item

The Recurrence of the End Times: Voegelin, Hegel, and the Stop-History Movements explores the deep connection between modern political ideologies and the secular eschatological hopes and dreams of a post-Christian society. Focusing primarily upon the thought of 20th century German émigré political scientist Eric Voegelin, the book argues that we cannot understand the globalized world in which we live unless we appreciate the lasting influence of the various "End of History" speculators-specifically, G.W.F Hegel, Alexandre Kojčve, and Francis Fukuyama. Through a Voegelinian lens, he dissects the relationship between these three thinkers, also claiming that while Voegelin may have misunderstood Hegel, his critiques of the Hegelian approach to history offer fresh and important perspectives on the contemporary world. This makes a forceful argument that the idea of history as a teleological path, leading toward some goal-whether perfect harmony between nations, a technocratic utopia, a return to some romanticized idyllic "state of nature," or what Kojčve and Fukuyama called the "universal and homogenous State"-has vast, and perverse, implications for the trajectory of American foreign and domestic policy.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781793651365

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Recurrence of the End Times
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, US
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1793651361
• ISBN 13: 9781793651365
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The Recurrence of the End Times: Voegelin, Hegel, and the Stop-History Movements explores the deep connection between modern political ideologies and the secular eschatological hopes and dreams of a post-Christian society. Focusing primarily upon the thought of 20th century German émigré political scientist Eric Voegelin, the book argues that we cannot understand the globalized world in which we live unless we appreciate the lasting influence of the various "End of History" speculators―specifically, G.W.F Hegel, Alexandre Kojčve, and Francis Fukuyama. Through a Voegelinian lens, he dissects the relationship between these three thinkers, also claiming that while Voegelin may have misunderstood Hegel, his critiques of the Hegelian approach to history offer fresh and important perspectives on the contemporary world. This makes a forceful argument that the idea of history as a teleological path, leading toward some goal―whether perfect harmony between nations, a technocratic utopia, a return to some romanticized idyllic “state of nature,” or what Kojčve and Fukuyama called the “universal and homogenous State”―has vast, and perverse, implications for the trajectory of American foreign and domestic policy.

About the Author

Michael J. Colebrookteaches in the World Languages and Religious Studies Department at St. John's High School. .