Bortom historiens slut

Sammanfattning: Francis Fukuyama argued in his book The End of History and the Last Men that history had effectively ended with the liberal democracies coming out on top of communism in the aftermath of the cold war. However, behind his argument stands a complex set of history philosophical ideas; ideas that formed the theoretical foundation for his argument. These ideas have not so much to do with economy as they have to do with historical progression, the dialectics of recognition and the philosophically grounded idea that the end of history is actually possible. My intention with this essay is too take a closer look at these ideas, to evaluate them and to make an inquiry in to their deeper level. My point of entry is the theoretical concept known as gnosticism which was developed and given its contextual meaning by the German philosopher Eric Voegelin. With gnosticism as the lens I intend to take a closer look at the ideas of Fukuyama that relate to the philosophy of history; to interpret them and search for their deeper meaning.