M., Evoluit: The Absolute from Ground to Limit: A Historical Reconstruction of Its Function

This article presents a historical-philosophical reconstruction of the function of the Absolute in Western thought. Its aim is not to provide an exhaustive history of doctrines of the Absolute, nor to revive a traditional metaphysics of ultimate ground. Instead, it asks what work the concept of the Absolute has performed across different epochs, and why this function persists even when the word “Absolute” itself becomes philosophically suspect. The main thesis is that the history of the Absolute