Branch of philosophy concerned with questions about the meaningfulness of history and the nature of historical explanation.
Philosophy of history in the traditional sense is conceived to be a first-order inquiry, its subject matter being the historical process as a whole and its broad aim being to provide an overall elucidation of its course. As a second-order inquiry, philosophy of history focuses on the methods by which practicing historians treat the human past. The former, often referred to as speculative philosophy of history, has had a long and varied career; the latter, known as critical or analytical philosophy of history, rose to prominence only in the 20th century.