For almost two centuries, teleological conceptions of history defined a common condition for humanity with a limited selection of futures. The rich and wide-ranging essays comprising Historical Teleologies in the Modern World excavate teleology's multiple origins, contested pasts, and uncertain future. The book goes well beyond previous studies in its geographical breadth, methodological pluralism, and intellectual rigour and makes a striking contribution to world history, intellectual history, and the history of historical thinking. * David Armitage, Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History, Harvard University, USA * With roots in antiquity, teleology is nonetheless a modern concept. This penetrating and wide-ranging volume reveals the global career of teleological patterns in historical thought and political action since the Enlightenment. Teleological thinking was not the province of any one tradition, religious or secular, but of many. Treating many parts of the world, the volume shows that a plurality of historical teleologies and their multiple temporalities provoked equally complex political tensions. Above all, if these essays give us new vantage points from which to critique the idea of historical teleology, they also demonstrate its tenacious hold upon the modern imaginary. * Warren Breckman, University of Pennsylvania, USA *
