Is it possible to translate the movement of Hegel's theodicy into the frame of a practical philosophy? If, on the one hand, the spirit’s dialectic triumphs over evil, but, on the other hand, the tragedy of history cannot be overcome, then we suggest that the path of recognition (reconnaissance) may point toward an ethic of reconciliation that takes history seriously, namely history with all its violence and evil, without falling into fatalist or nihilist resignation.