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Full Idea
Earlier we sought God's intentions in history: then an unconscious purposefulness, in a people or an idea. Only recently are we considering the history of animals, and the first insight is that no plan has so far existed. Coincidences have been dominant.
Gist of Idea
After history following God, or a people, or an idea, we now see it in terms of animals
Source
Friedrich Nietzsche (Unpublished Notebooks 1884-85 [1884], 25[127])
Book Ref
Nietzsche,Friedrich: 'Fragments from 1884-85 (v 15)', ed/tr. Loeb,P.S./Tinsley,D.F. [Stanford 2022], p.38
A Reaction
Not a Whig historian then! Presumably Hegel is his main target. In 2024 there is a definite feeling that western democracies are regressing.