Wozu Philosophiegeschichte?

For philosophy, its relationship to its own history is as controversial as it is unclarified. This contribution suggests that three different functions of the relationship to history be distinguished. They are tied to the key concepts of truth, meaning, and memory. For philosophy the relationship to history is, on the one hand, a medium of argumentative discourse, of critical exchange with other positions regarding the validity of their theses and theories. On the other hand its function is a hermeneutical one – it serves the understanding of its own project and the meaning of the questions dealt with and the concepts used. Finally, it is a genuine bearer of historical memory. The three directions of interest determine historical reflection partly independently of each other, partly they refer to and are tied to each other.