Abstract

The present article, as the title suggests, aims at giving the answer to the question about the progress and the end of time according to Kant’s ideas and to the so called progress philo sophy. (Fichte, Go¨rres, Novalis). The article tries to do it from Pieper’s point of view, the most XX century recognized German philosopher of reali stic current. Therefore, his two essential works: Uber das Ende das Zeit, Hoffnung und Geschich te are the basic literature used in this analysis. Important complements are the information ob tained from German professor Berthold Wald, the most distinguished Pieper’s student and the continuator of his ideas. The author took them from numerous conversations with him. Bert hold Wald’s information ensures the author that he understood the ideas of Munster philosopher well. The article shows the facts concerning the problem of progress and the end of our history shared by above thinkers. These ideas are: the faith in continual progress of mankind, the con viction of the positive end of our history, po ssibilities of creating the City of God on the Earth, self-realization and fulfilling one’s des tination within the history and by means of human, not God’s activity. The article presents all illusions of understanding the progress in This way, development of history and its end. The important fact is that both the idea of progress and historical development have a theological source which is an extra temporal end – the idea of New Heaven and New Earth. Both Kant and the thinkers of progress receive this idea from Christianity. However, they don’t take into account the essence which links Christianity with this idea. In other words, they create the vision of progress, history and its end using theological notions in their non -theological meaning, that is secularizing them. What’s more, this article will also present some dissimilarity between the formulation of progress philosophy and Kant’s concept as more realistic and closer to Christianity. Whereas Hegel, Fichte, Go¨rres and Novalis don’t consider the possibility of intra temporal pessimistic end of human history, as described in Apocalypse, Kant doesn’t exclude the rightness of Christian interpretation. The author also mentions the basic Pieper’s argument against Kant’s conception and progress philosophy. That is an illusory and causing despair conviction that the subject of history is only a man. Having hope for future is the right attitude towards catastrophic intra temporal and fatal end of history. However, catastrophe isn’t a total end of human history because it precedes the extra temporal end – New Heaver and New Earth.