The Book Of Dead Philosophers (critchley, Simon) / quote 12 of 18
Against Hegel's westering as bestering
My approach is therefore deeply at odds with that of Hegel. I do not see the history of philosophy as the progressive logical unfolding of ‘Spirit’, which culminates in showing that it has its destiny in the Western philosophy of the present. This is ‘westering’ as ‘bestering’, which judges the facts of philosophers’ lives as irrelevant. Indeed, there is something intensely narcissistic about such a conception of philosophy, where the sole function of history is to hold up a mirror so that we may see the reflection of ourselves and our own world.