Abstract

In this paper, conceptions of the failure of the human species in the philosophy of history that can be found in the thought of Marx, Benjamin, and Adorno will be presented. Before that, some aspects of Hegel’s metaphysics have to be recapitulated as background, even if Hegel’s conception of the philosophy of history cannot be inserted into the constellation spanned here. Finally, it will be discussed how the failure of the human species can be philosophically thematized beyond framings in a philosophy of history.