Final answer:
Human history and the mind have progressed toward The Absolute predominantly through engaging in dialectical reasoning, which refines moral and ethical understanding over time, as opposed to skepticism, which doubts the possibility of certain knowledge.
Step-by-step explanation:
Human history and the human mind progressed toward The Absolute primarily by engaging in dialectical reasoning. The dialectical process, as developed by Socrates and later perfected by Plato, involves a conversational pattern of inquiry that challenges presumptions and seeks to separate weaker arguments from stronger ones, refining ethical principles over time. This process has been central in advancing moral understanding and rejecting the notion of static moral absolutes, instead embracing the idea that moral truths can evolve.
Skepticism, on the other hand, views that certain knowledge is impossible, advocating for suspending belief rather than relying on fallible human reasoning. In contrast, Enlightenment thought championed rationalism, empiricism, progressivism, and cosmopolitanism, all of which place a strong emphasis on human reason and observation as means of gaining knowledge and progressing society.