The past borns posthumous: An approach to Hayden White's philosophy of history in the light of Sartrean existentialism

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze the narrativist philosophy of history developed by Hayden White in the light of the existentialist perspective embodied paradigmatically by Jean-Paul Sartre. In this way, different convergences will be developed from which an ontological reading of the past in common, the ethical consequences that derive from these perspectives and, finally, the common emphasis on an exhortation to the self-awareness of agency that every historical effort implies.