A systemic approach to the philosophy of history

The purpose of this paper is to present a systemic philosophy of history, which, to the author's knowledge, is new in the study of history. As such this is an innovation into the study of history.

The question studied is: What constitutes a systemic approach to the philosophy of history? In this study the author first develops the systemic hypothesis and the relationship between history and the past, then develops a systemic perspective on ontology and epistemology.

The materialism, idealism debate is discussed and an answer given to the question, why study history from a systemic perspective?

The paper presents five reasons for studying history and the historical process itself. A systemic approach to history views history as a long‐term perspective contrasted with spectacular events. This results in individuals and exceptional events being examined in their social context as part of a social system.