ABSTRACT
The Enlightenment bequeaths to humankind a historical consciousness: That humanity has a history that it has created while nature’s history is the product of causal processes of which it cannot be aware. This chapter examines the Enlightenment conception of agency, focusing in particular on the paradoxical way in which it conceived its role in human history: That we are subject to human history, and yet human agency sets history in motion. Kant’s response is to argue that humans are self-causing; that is, rational agents determine themselves on the basis of norms that they impose on themselves and that constitute reasons for their actions. In Hegel’s case, agents have to be understood as part of a form of life; the concepts they employ and the reasons they give for their actions are developed in culture. The norms they impose on themselves are fundamentally historical and not the products of reason. Hegel’s concern in this regard with history is twofold: Firstly, to understand the norms which govern an agent’s actions; and secondly, to examine how those norms come to be transformed, and so develop history, through the actions of agents. This chapter explores this theme in Hegel’s thought and examines how it comes to be developed in subsequent reflections on history in the 19th and 20th centuries. It concludes by arguing for the relevance of Hegel’s and Adorno’s conception of second nature and social practice for understanding the agency responsible for the Anthropocene.
