Work · Science & Human Sciences
Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time
Essays on the modern experience of time: history ceases to be the teacher of life, the future becomes open and plannable, “history” becomes a collective singular, and “space of experience” and “horizon of expectation” name the poles of historical time.
Introduction
“Vergangene Zukunft” (1979) collects essays that Koselleck wrote alongside his work on the “Geschichtliche Grundbegriffe”. They ask how the experience of historical time changed between the sixteenth and the nineteenth century: the old topos of history as the teacher of life lost its force, the future became open and could be planned, and “history” and “progress” became collective singulars. Other essays treat asymmetrical counter-concepts such as Hellenes and barbarians, the relation of conceptual history to social history, and dreams recorded under the Third Reich. The closing essay introduces “space of experience” and “horizon of expectation” as categories of historical knowledge. Keith Tribe’s English translation, “Futures Past”, appeared in 1985 and made the book widely known.
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