Przedaugustyńska filozofia dziejów – wybrane koncepcje
Remarks on pre-Augustinian philosophies of history

Summary/Abstract: For some time now, in many areas of intellectual activity, we can observe increased interest in history. This trend, a kind of signum temporis, seems to call into question the postmodern prophecy of the end of the philosophy of history. In fact, the modern philosophy of history has failed every expectation. However, was it the only historiosophical thought in the history of Western civilization? Augustine of Hippo is considered by many to be the father of the philosophy of history. He devised a canon of thinking about history and its meaning on which paradigm the historiosophical inquiry of later centuries was based. However, is it possible to speak of pre-Augustinian philosophies of history? That is, to find reflections aimed at resolving history according to its meaning and goal also from before Augustine? The term “philosophy of history” comes from Voltaire, and was used to determine the historiosophical concept of the Enlightenment. However, apart from the model of reasoning based on conditions and intellectual fashions of the era, it can be said that the term seems to exceed the original semantic scope and includes traditions of thought from beyond the Enlightenment, which nonetheless bore signs of historiosophy. This article attempts to examine three patristic concepts of the era, which were not inspired by Augustine’s thought. Salvian of Marseilles envisions history as a sequence of events, where the divine pedagogy toward humankind is realized. Eusebius of Caesarea grasps his historiosophical thought within imperial theology, designed to show the emperor as the subject through which the divine Logos rules history. The earliest of the described authors – Irenaeus of Lyon, weaves the course of history into the mystery of the Trinitarian economy, where history is the means by which the Trinity reveals itself.

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