Philosopher
G. W. F. Hegel
1770–1831
Also known as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
The most systematic of the German idealists, who saw reality and history as the unfolding of spirit, and whose dialectical method shaped much of later philosophy.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel belongs to the generation of German idealists who followed Kant. He taught at Jena, Heidelberg and finally Berlin. The Phenomenology of Spirit (1807) traces the development of consciousness through ever more adequate forms of knowing, up to philosophical knowledge itself.
The most systematic of the idealists, Hegel tried to build a comprehensive philosophy from a purportedly logical starting point, in which nature, history, society, art, religion and philosophy are all stages in the self-realisation of “spirit” (Geist). His ideas, including the view that history has a rational structure, shaped thinkers as different as Marx and Kierkegaard, who both developed their own views in response to him.
Key ideas
- A system from logic
- The most systematic of the German idealists, Hegel tried to build a comprehensive philosophy from a purportedly logical starting point, set out in works such as the Science of Logic and his Encyclopaedia.
- The struggle for recognition
- Self-consciousness depends on others. I become a self-conscious subject only by recognising others who in turn recognise me, and these patterns of mutual recognition make up “spirit” (Geist).
- Sublation
- In Hegel’s triads, the third term integrates the first two. They are “sublated” (aufgehoben), negated but also preserved, so they go on working within the new context the third creates.
- Ethical life (Sittlichkeit)
- Social life is ordered by customs and shared practices. Hegel’s account of spirit starts from this “ethical order”, ways of life that exist only as the people who share them live them out.
- History as development
- Hegel is best known for his teleological account of history, in which spirit develops through a necessary sequence of stages. Marx later “inverted” it into a materialist theory of history.
- Tradition
- Western
- Region
- Jena, Heidelberg and Berlin
- Period
- Late modern
Influences
Influenced by
- Aristotle384–322 BCE
- Baruch Spinoza1632–1677
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778criticised
- Immanuel Kant1724–1804
G. W. F. Hegel1770–1831
Influenced
1800 – 1900
- Søren Kierkegaard1813–1855critic
- Karl Marx1818–1883critic
- John Dewey1859–1952
- Bertrand Russell1872–1970critic
- Tanabe Hajime1885–1962
- Franz Rosenzweig1886–1929critic
- Zhang Junmai1887–1969
1900 onwards
- Theodor W. Adorno1903–1969critic
- Emmanuel Levinas1905–1995critic
- Jean-Paul Sartre1905–1980
- Simone de Beauvoir1908–1986
- Mou Zongsan1909–1995
- Paulo Freire1921–1997
- Jean-François Lyotard1924–1998critic
- Gilles Deleuze1925–1995critic
- Michel Foucault1926–1984
- Lao Sze-kwang1927–2012
- Ignacio Ellacuría1930–1989
- Jacques Derrida1930–2004
- Richard Rorty1931–2007
- Giorgio Agambenborn 1942
- Slavoj Žižekborn 1949
Influenced by
- Aristotle384–322 BCE
- Baruch Spinoza1632–1677
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712–1778criticised
- Immanuel Kant1724–1804
G. W. F. Hegel1770–1831
Influenced
1800 – 1900
- Søren Kierkegaard1813–1855critic
- Karl Marx1818–1883critic
- John Dewey1859–1952
- Bertrand Russell1872–1970critic
- Tanabe Hajime1885–1962
- Franz Rosenzweig1886–1929critic
- Zhang Junmai1887–1969
1900 onwards
- Theodor W. Adorno1903–1969critic
- Emmanuel Levinas1905–1995critic
- Jean-Paul Sartre1905–1980
- Simone de Beauvoir1908–1986
- Mou Zongsan1909–1995
- Paulo Freire1921–1997
- Jean-François Lyotard1924–1998critic
- Gilles Deleuze1925–1995critic
- Michel Foucault1926–1984
- Lao Sze-kwang1927–2012
- Ignacio Ellacuría1930–1989
- Jacques Derrida1930–2004
- Richard Rorty1931–2007
- Giorgio Agambenborn 1942
- Slavoj Žižekborn 1949
Where these links come from
- G. W. F. Hegel drew on Aristotle. Source: Paul Redding, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- G. W. F. Hegel drew on Baruch Spinoza. Source: Paul Redding, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- G. W. F. Hegel drew on and argued against Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Source: Paul Redding, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- G. W. F. Hegel drew on Immanuel Kant. Source: Paul Redding, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Søren Kierkegaard drew on and argued against G. W. F. Hegel. Source: John Lippitt and C. Stephen Evans, Søren Kierkegaard, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Karl Marx drew on and argued against G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Jonathan Wolff and David Leopold, Karl Marx, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- John Dewey drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: David Hildebrand, John Dewey, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Bertrand Russell argued against G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Andrew David Irvine, Bertrand Russell, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Tanabe Hajime drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Bret W. Davis, The Kyoto School, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Franz Rosenzweig drew on and argued against G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Benjamin Pollock, Franz Rosenzweig, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Zhang Junmai drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Joseph Ciaudo, Zhang Junmai (Carsun Chang), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Theodor W. Adorno drew on and argued against G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Henry Pickford and Lambert Zuidervaart, Theodor W. Adorno, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Emmanuel Levinas argued against G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Bettina Bergo, Emmanuel Levinas, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Jean-Paul Sartre drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Jack Reynolds and Pierre-Jean Renaudie, Jean-Paul Sartre, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Simone de Beauvoir drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Debra Bergoffen and Megan Burke, Simone de Beauvoir, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Mou Zongsan drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Jason Clower, Mou Zongsan (Mou Tsung-san), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Paulo Freire drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Kim Díaz, Paulo Freire, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Jean-François Lyotard argued against G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Peter Gratton, Jean François Lyotard, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Gilles Deleuze argued against G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Daniel Smith, John Protevi and Daniela Voss, Gilles Deleuze, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Michel Foucault drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Gary Gutting and Johanna Oksala, Michel Foucault, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Lao Sze-kwang drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Andrew Ka Pok Tam, Lao Sze-kwang (Lao Siguang), Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Ignacio Ellacuría drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: David I. Gandolfo, Ignacio Ellacuría, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Jacques Derrida drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Leonard Lawlor, Jacques Derrida, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Richard Rorty drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Bjørn Ramberg and Susan Dieleman, Richard Rorty, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Giorgio Agamben drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Catherine Mills, Giorgio Agamben, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Slavoj Žižek drew on G. W. F. Hegel. Source: Matthew Sharpe, Slavoj Žižek, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Key works
- Phenomenology of Spirit (Phänomenologie des Geistes), 1807
- Read free at Project Gutenberg (in German)
- Science of Logic (Wissenschaft der Logik)
- Read free at Project Gutenberg (in German, volume 1 of 2)
- Elements of the Philosophy of Right (Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts)
Terms on this page
- Geist
- Spirit, or mind. Hegel’s word for the shared life of mutual recognition and culture, as in “spirit of the age” (Zeitgeist).
- aufgehoben
- Sublated: in Hegel, negated but also preserved, as earlier terms are when they continue within a new, higher category.
- Sittlichkeit
- Ethical life, or ethical order: Hegel’s term, from Sitte, custom, for the social forms of the family, civil society and the state.
Sources
- Paul Redding, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy