الإنسان والوعى التاريخى

     Philosophers define man as a "historical creature", i.e. it is man who makes his history and is time-conscious, unlike all other creatures. Even if other creatures possess a "history", they lack consciousness of time and natural development. Man only is capable of understanding the dialectic of time and history. And if God is the creator of nature, Man is the creator of "history", i.e. a creator of the social, political, economic organization of history, as well as the creator of art, law and language. "History" therefore is a pure human creation in the sense that a maker of history is himself the subject of history. Moreover, it may be said that man's creation of history is one of the most important and self-evident ideas that intellectuals and philosophers were interested in throughout time.
      This research deals with the understanding of man to his self and his consciousness of historical reality through which he lives. In this framework, the beginning of historical consciousness in ancient civilizations : Egyptian, Chinese, Indian, and Greek, is presented. Next, the religious concept of "history" in Judaism is discussed, as well as in Christian theology. There follows a discussion of historiography in the Islamic state throughout the ages – a practice that dealt with all aspects of life. Finally, a discussion of historical consciousness in the modern age is given. Scholars of history in the west dealt with the quantum leap that happened in historical studies – a development that goes back to the first half of the nineteenth century when distinguished methods of historical knowledge were developed and a new Copernican revolution broke out and presented the science of "history" in a new garb.