Understanding the intention of human actions - and thus, essentially, a psychological dimension - lies at the root of knowledge on which the science of history is founded. The unintended consequences of human actions, on the other hand, are the fundamental problem of the philosophy of history, which enquires into the meaning, and sometimes also the aim of history. Anthropology, finally, seeks to establish what actually defines humanity beyond the realm of history. The ahistoric character of anthropology on the one hand and the hitherto incomplete understanding of humanity of historical philosophers on the other have always seemed to rule out any mututal understanding between the two disciplines.Psychoanalysis, at the interface between natural and cultural sciences, can re-define the relation between nature and history. It considers human nature as fundamentally historical and social, but at the same time it enables a wider understanding of the intention of human actions with intrapsychic and unconscious aspects.