Roberto Bordoli’s Le idee migliorano. Origini e presupposti della Storia della filosofia di Hegel (1650-1827) is a compelling exploration of the development of the history of philosophy as an autonomous discipline and Hegel’s approach to it, steeped in a historical and ethical consciousness that reflects the intellectual evolution of modern Europe. Bordoli positions the history of philosophy as a distinct product of the modern world—a field that captures and narrates the genesis of modern thought through the biography of European intellectual life, seen particularly through the lens of Hegelian philosophy. He examines the historical conditions that prepared the ground for this discipline, tracking its foundations in the critiques and transformations of seventeenth-century thought and Enlightenment ideals rooted in Humanism and the Reformation. Through these, Bordoli unveils how the history of philosophy grew from an academic impulse to preserve human thought into a means of comprehending the self-constitution of modernity.
A central claim of Bordoli’s work is that the formation of the history of philosophy, as Hegel envisioned it, was not a systematic pursuit driven solely by a desire for categorization but rather an inevitable response to the demands of ethical and historical self-understanding that came with modernity. Hegel’s conception of the history of philosophy extends beyond a mere anthology of ideas; for him, it is the autobiography of the modern world, recounting the philosophical spirit as it matures alongside the lived experiences and intellectual climate of Europe. This autobiography encompasses not only the philosophical narrative but also captures the broader intellectual, social, and political evolution of modern European identity. The influence of Eastern, Greek, and Christian philosophies, the ideological developments within German universities, and the reception of rationalist, Enlightenment, and religious traditions play a significant role in shaping this narrative. Bordoli illustrates how this heritage, spanning from Plato and Aristotle to Reformation thinkers and German Enlightenment figures, furnished Hegel with a complex framework from which he could build a uniquely modern synthesis of philosophy’s historical trajectory.
In the first part of the book, Bordoli traces the roots of the history of philosophy through the works of European precursors such as Thomas Stanley, Gerhard Johannes Voss, and Pierre-Daniel Huet, emphasizing their historiographical methods and their roles as transmitters of ancient knowledge. He situates these thinkers within the larger project of constructing a systematic historical account of philosophy, focusing on their attempts to articulate philosophy’s origins as either universal, tied to a primordial wisdom, or specifically Western, shaped by Greek thought. Through the eyes of these early historians, Bordoli explores the delicate balance of continuity and innovation, noting how Hegel later utilized these early sources while simultaneously reframing philosophy’s historical unfolding as an expression of the self-realization of Spirit in time.
By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, German intellectuals such as Christoph August Heumann and Johann Jakob Brucker had begun to lay the foundation for a historical study of philosophy that sought to understand the philosophical systems of the past as contextually and culturally bound, while also measuring them against emerging standards of rationality and truth. Bordoli provides detailed analysis of how these thinkers, together with figures like Christian Garve, moved from a philological, often fragmented study of philosophical traditions toward a more comprehensive historiography. This approach would ultimately influence Hegel, who recognized that philosophy’s history must be not merely an accumulation of ideas but a coherent story of the rational unfolding of thought itself. This evolution in thought laid the groundwork for Hegel’s historical view, in which he discerned not only the progress of reason through successive philosophical systems but also the broader development of European cultural and political consciousness.
In the process of translating Hegel’s Lectures on the History of Philosophy, Bordoli came to recognize the tension Hegel encountered between philosophy’s role as a reflection of its time and its retrospective nature, which always comes “after the fact” to understand what has already become. Bordoli carefully explains Hegel’s view that philosophy is at once an expression of the present moment captured in thought and a retrospective understanding that can only emerge after history has played itself out. This aporetic structure in Hegel’s thinking—that philosophy must reflect its time yet also arrive after historical events have concluded—is central to Bordoli’s study, as it exemplifies the way in which Hegelian philosophy situates itself as the culmination and self-reflection of modern consciousness.
One of Bordoli’s remarkable contributions is his examination of how Hegel’s method intersects with questions of metaphysics and historical truth. He situates Hegel’s philosophical vision within the broader discourses of the time, including hermeneutics, the philosophy of history, and the theological and secular traditions that informed German thought. Bordoli points to Hegel’s integration of theological and philosophical history, noting that the lineage of ideas about the divine, morality, and universal history provided Hegel with the dialectical structure he needed to organize his understanding of the historical process. This dialectical structure, whereby opposing ideas or forces give rise to new syntheses, allows Hegel to interpret the history of philosophy as a logical progression toward freedom and self-awareness, representing not merely a chronicle of philosophies but the evolution of consciousness itself.
Bordoli’s research culminates in an analysis of how Hegel frames modernity as a self-conscious epoch capable of understanding and reflecting on its historical origins. The Reformation and Enlightenment, with their emphasis on reason and individual autonomy, serve as ethical and political drivers for this process, ultimately leading Hegel to conceptualize the history of philosophy as a record of humanity’s growing capacity for rational self-determination. Hegel’s integration of historical consciousness into philosophy illustrates the unique nature of the modern spirit, which is characterized by a need to document and justify its own becoming. Bordoli shows how Hegel’s commitment to this historical self-awareness allowed him to see philosophy’s past as a coherent narrative leading up to the emergence of freedom as an explicit goal of human history.
The book’s title, Ideas Improve, encapsulates Bordoli’s thesis that philosophical ideas are not static or immutable truths but dynamic products of historical circumstances that evolve to reflect the needs and values of successive generations. Hegel’s vision of history as progressive, though marked by contradictions and regressions, is shown to be inseparable from his philosophy, which sees history as the medium through which human freedom and rationality gradually unfold. Bordoli draws a vivid picture of how Hegel’s history of philosophy, far from a simple recounting of doctrines, is instead a deeply reflective, phenomenological journey through the struggles and triumphs that define the modern world’s self-realization.
Bordoli also discusses the transformation of philosophy from an intuitive wisdom to a systematic science. He explores how, in the modern age, philosophy shed its mystical and religious origins to become a socially transmitted form of knowledge, accessible to all through rigorous study and capable of being taught as a public discipline. Bordoli reflects on how this transformation, prompted by the modern need for rational justification and systematic inquiry, rendered philosophy’s history indispensable as a means of tracing its progression from religious mythos to secular science. By grounding philosophy within the modern demand for transparent, rational knowledge, Hegel reinterprets it as a necessary result of modernity’s claim to self-authorship, providing humanity with the tools to understand itself as a historical being.
In Le idee migliorano, Bordoli provides an invaluable contribution to understanding Hegel’s Lectures on the History of Philosophy within the broader historical and intellectual movements that shaped it. His work invites readers to consider how the formation of the history of philosophy as a discipline reflects both the ethical evolution of humanity and the modern world’s unique capacity for self-reflective knowledge. Bordoli’s scholarly rigor and philosophical insight reveal the intricate web of influences—historical, theological, and rational—that culminated in Hegel’s revolutionary view of the history of philosophy as the self-conscious development of freedom and reason. In doing so, Bordoli’s study offers an indispensable guide to Hegelian thought, illuminating how the ideas of the past continually reframe themselves to address the needs of the present, embodying the very notion that, indeed, ideas improve.
Simon Gros 
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