ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Schopenhauer's claim that history is a form of knowledge, but not a science proper. It shows how history sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails in satisfying Schopenhauer's qualitative and logical requirements for knowledge claims to count as scientific. It then shows the ways history sometimes succeeds and sometimes fails to satisfy Schopenhauer's criteria for knowledge being a form of “Poesis” or poetic art. Finally, it argues that, instead of merely disregarding history, Schopenhauer instead considers history as a form of knowledge that stands as a crucial middle ground between “Wissenschaft” and “Poesis,” one that at least intimates the character of the Will through its representation of historical facts.
