Abstract
The seminar on the philosophy of history founded at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, in 1983 by Heinz Wismann and Luc Ferry has, through an analysis of significant texts, maintained a point of view defending the rationality of history against the radical irrationalism inspired by Heidegger. On the basis of a Kantian conception of reason, the works of such writers as Max Weber, Eduard Meyer, Leo Strauss, Raymond Aron, Paul Veyne, and Hannah Arendt have been subjected to close examination. Kantian philosophy enables philosophers of history to avoid dogmatism and irrationalism, but the choice of Weber as the ideal representative of the Kantian imperative may be criticized.