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The phenomenon of crisis – of all kinds and at all levels – provides abundant material for study in disciplines centered on the human being. The twentieth century’s complex landscape provides valuable elements for developing a “morphology of crisis,” where crises of all types can be identified, including personal, family, social, economic, ethical, scientific, philosophical, and historical ones. The broad range of crises that exists today requires further study to better understand the concept, and Reinhart Koselleck offered perhaps the most significant interpretative keys for such a task. In his work, Critique and Crisis (1954), Koselleck developed a particularly lucid theory of crisis. His vast historical erudition, steeped in a philosophical quest, offers contemporary readers an approach to the issue of crisis, elucidating its most relevant requirements and challenges.

This chapter studies the historical use of the word crisis, aiming to better understand both the term and whether or not it preserves the concept’s invariable foundation and transversal elements, namely the experience of time as a turning point between the past and future, the need for judgment to guide the development of a particular situation, and a decision that gives shape to a new state of affairs.

This analysis is not just limited to understanding Koselleck’s account of the crisis concept; it also tests and addresses its internal structure. The description of the diversity of crisis phenomena at the beginning supports assessment of the illuminating power of Koselleck’s concept of crisis.