The central assumption of this book is the universal historical thesis of an Axial Age (880-200 BC) in world history, during which structurally similar cultural revolutions and breakthroughs occurred independently in China, India, and the West. The extent to which these breakthroughs remain significant for contemporary cultural life is currently being re-discussed in cultural studies disciplines such as the sociology of religion and culture, comparative cultural theory, and modernity theory. In addition to the thesis of the Axial Age, "On the Origin and Goal of History" also discusses the importance of science and technology in modernity; it considers the possibility of a world unity in the sense of a state of world peace and examines contemporary historical trends in politics.