The philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) places history on a secondary plane. Schopenhauer didn’t give history a central role because he did not consider that humanity should achieve any goal beyond the happiness of the individual. Schopenhauer believed that an eternal life force (“the will”) drives all creatures towards self-preservation and reproduction, but the influence of the will doesn’t mean that society must go in a particular direction. According to Schopenhauer, the events in the world are a perpetual manifestation of the will, but the results are not easy to foresee. The will can lead to pleasure and happiness, but also to conflict, suffering, and pointless pursuit of power. For this reason, Schopenhauer rejected the notion of linear progress in history. History can meander from good to worse, and then back to excellent. It is not leading to a particular goal, destination or achievement. It’s the result of the actions of large numbers of people, each pursuing his own happiness. Schopenhauer views of history appeared first in his doctoral thesis published in 1814 “On the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason” and later in his key work “The world as will and representation,” published in 1818. The philosophy of history in Schopenhauer’s work is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. I would rather describe it as liberal and non-deterministic. Schopenhauer viewed the influence of the will as a driving factor, but not as overwhelming. Each human being remains free to adopt countermeasures to protect himself against the deleterious aspects of the will; none of us is a puppet at the hands of the will; we can make our own choices; we can steer our life in the direction of our dreams. Schopenhauer acknowledged that human existence is driven by desires that will often remain unfulfilled. It is a process of work, struggle and inevitable suffering, but this should not lead you to the conclusion that passivity is better than action. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/schopenhauer-and-the-philosophy-of-history/