The aim of this paper is to trace one of the deepest roots of Hegel's concept of history within Kant's doctrine of schematism. I propose to draw a line of continuity between Kant's Einbildungskraft and Hegel's Selbstbewusstsein. The concept of Selbstbewusstsein of the young Hegel is to be understood, in my view, as the moment when the extreme and radical consequences are drawn from the schematism of the first Critique, revised in the light of Kant's reflections on teleology developed in (...) the Critique of Judgment. In this sense, Hegel can be seen as the 'solution' to the rift that opened up in the heart of Western culture during the Enlightenment. (shrink)