The term
philosophy of history refers to the theoretical aspect of history, in two senses. It is customary to distinguish
critical philosophy of history from
speculative philosophy of history. Critical philosophy of history is the "theory" aspect of the discipline of academic history, and deals with questions such as the nature of historical evidence, the degree to which objectivity is possible, etc. Speculative philosophy of history is an area of
philosophy concerning the eventual significance, if any, of human history. Furthermore, it speculates as to a possible
teleological end to its development—that is, it asks if there is a design, purpose, directive principle, or finality in the processes of human history. Part of Marxism, for example, is speculative philosophy of history. Another example is "historiosophy", the term coined by
Gershom Scholem to describe his understanding of history and
metaphysics. Though there is some overlap between the two aspects, they can usually be distinguished; modern professional historians tend to be skeptical about speculative philosophy of history.