Dialectics and Typology. Narrative Structure in Hegel and Collingwood

Résumé En

The aim of this paper is to describe the similarities and differences between the historical narratives of Hegel and Collingwood. The central hypothesis is that the dialectical thinking, present in Hegel's Philosophy of History and in Collingwood's Speculum Mentis, produces narrative representations which have a specifically typological character. Following Northrop Frye, typology is understood here as a mode of language usage which involves a theory of historical process. Despite the differences, this theory of historical process works like an absolute presupposition in both philosophers, and can be traced down to the core of Collingwood's philosophical method. Consequently, after a short introduction, this paper presents the main features of Frye's notion of typology. Next, in the two following sections, the typological configuration of both philosophies is presented, stressing the structural (narrative) similarities between them. Finally, the differences are explained as the result of fundamental changes in the use of language. This changes, however, were not enough as to overrule the presence of typology but only to replace it from the ontological reflection over reality into the epistemological level of human consciousness.