“思辨的历史哲学”是当代西方历史哲学家惯用的一个名称,意指对客观历史进程本身的哲学反思,其本质就是历史本体论或历史观。当代西方历史哲学家很少对“思辨的历史哲学”的发展过程做深刻的省思,大都把它当作一种过时的东西加以抛弃,而把“批判的历史哲学”奉为显学。于是,“思辨的历史哲学”目前在西方大有衰落之势。本文旨在阐述近代西方“思辨的历史哲学”的发展概况,分析当代西方“思辨的历史哲学”式微的原因,同时也对“思辨的历史哲学”本身做些思辨,指出科学的历史本体论即马克思主义唯物史观的重要地位和作用。一如所周知,近代西方资产阶级历史哲学由于面临着反对基督教神学史观的任务而把 The “speculative philosophy of history” is a common name used by contemporary western historical philosophers and refers to the philosophical reflection on the objective historical process itself. Its essence is historical ontology or historical concept. Few Western contemporary philosophers of history make a profound reflection on the development process of “speculative historical philosophy”, and most of them abandon it as an outdated thing, and regard “critical historical philosophy” as an explicit one. As a result, the “speculative philosophy of history” is currently declining in the West. This article aims to expound the general situation of modern Western “speculative philosophy of history”, analyze the reasons of the contemporary Western “speculative philosophy of history”, and also make some speculations about the speculative philosophy of history itself, pointing out that the scientific historical ontology The Important Role and Function of Marxist Historical Materialism. As we all know, the history of modern Western bourgeois philosophy of history due to the opposition to the mission of Christian theological history put the