In this article, the author analyzes Karl Löwith’s philosophical critique
of secularization. It focuses specifically on three moments: the reconstruction of
the “revolutionary fracture” of the mid-nineteenth century, as explored in From
Hegel to Nietzsche; the analysis of the birth of the philosophy of history from
the secularization of Christian eschatology, outlined in Meaning in History; and
finally, the interpretation of the transformation of progress into a fatality, developed
in his post-World War II writings, within the framework of his mature
reflections on nature. The aim of this analysis is to reconstruct the fundamental
oscillations of Löwith’s reflection. On the one hand, it is dominated by the aspiration
to propose a peculiar critique of ideology, which aims to deactivate modern
historical consciousness and its projection toward the future, highlighting
how the latter arose from a secularized Christian eschatological projection. On
the other hand, however, the very genealogy of secularization seems to attest to
the specific problems of a post-Christian era, characterized not only by historical
thought but also by the transformation of the historical being of individuals.

Secularization, Ideology, Eschatology, Modernity, Naturalism.

DOI

10.53129/gcsi_02-2024-02