Karl Jaspers, Siegfried Giedion, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Three Thinkers of History with Regard to Prehistory

Philippe Grosos

Abstract

Beyond their irreducible differences, the philosopher Karl Jaspers, the art historian Siegfried Giedion and the theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin have one thing in common: they have each developed a way of thinking about history that pays attention to the concept of “prehistory”. And they did so at a time when only prehistorians were interested in the question. What do their analyses tell us? How do they allow us today to question the commonly accepted opposition between history and prehistory? Can we see in these thoughts a call to re-found a philosophy of history?