אבן ח'לדון כהיסטוריוסוף מודרני

The article analyzes the fourteenth-century Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun’s philosophy of history, highlighting the ways in which Ibn Khaldun preceded various modern philosophers of history. The primary focus of the article is Ibn Khaldun’s al-Muqaddima, “Introduction,” which, despite its name, provides a comprehensive summary of Ibn Khaldun’s philosophy of history. The article examines various aspects of Ibn Khaldun’s thought, mainly with respect to historiography, sociology, economy, and political science, and compares his philosophy of history to that of several modern thinkers. Ibn Khaldun’s life story bore a strong resemblance to that of Machiavelli, which led them to propose similar political concepts. The article also draws parallels to Vico’s concept of history as a new science; Bodin and Montesquieu on the impact of climate and environment on the nature of nations and the historical process; Hegel’s dialectical evolution of history; Krochmal’s phases in the life cycle of nations, as well as his discussion of the time element in historical research; Comte’s history as a sociological study; Darwinism and Social Darwinism; Spencer and Spengler’s characterization of society as an organism; Marx’s emphasis on the economic element in history; and E. H. Carr’s assertion of the insignificance of individuals in history, as well as his call to understand the present by means of the past.