 The 19th-century writers on progress took up and elaborated the notion that conflict is an essential part of a progressive narrative. G.W.F. Hegel (1770–1831) is an example of such a writer. Hegel does not give a straightforward account of human progress. But he puts a version of universal history at the center of his metaphysics, from which a narrative of progress can be derived.  According to Hegel, the world as a whole is in the process of development through conflict. Part of the world's development is the self-realization of its spiritual aspect, known simply as Geist, or Spirit.  The freedom of Spirit is achieved through the achievement of free social institutions and free human beings.  So, we look to human history to understand the realization of Spirit.  Conversely we recognize that the self-realization of Spirit, an entity not reducible to humanity, is the true meaning of human history. 