Hegel’s Absolute Idealism PDF

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Lecture Notes Module 2...

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Hegel’s Absolute Idealism Hegel goes from transcendental idealism to absolute idealism → no more relationship, now there’s an identity: Hegel thinks the solution is too weak, needs to be more extreme 1) Absolute: “The real is (the) rational & the rational is (the) real”  Reality is ultimately & entirely intelligible  Thought has a subjective and objective reality 2) Historical: The unfolding of the real/rational occurs through history 3) Dialectical: Thesis, antithesis, synthesis; affirmation—negation—negation of the negation (new affirmation); universal, particular, individual 2/14/18 - Hegel 1. Original History  Writen by a historian about his particular time; the spirit of the historian coincides with the spirit of the time about which he writes 2. Reflective History 

Writen by a historian afer his particular time has passed; the spirit is diferent. . .

1. Universal—world history 2. Pragmatic—patern in historical accounts 3. Critical—a history of history

4. Specialized—one aspect of history (art, religion, etc) 3. Philosophic History  Emphasize thought over events  Apply philosophy (the Idea) to the raw material of history o History is the process by which Spirit unfolds over time  Views history as rational Reason Rules the World 1) Anaxagoras’ “Nous” (mind) → concerned with physical laws; it fails to connect the universal with the concrete 2) Providence → it makes God and His reasons unknowable 2/19/18 1) The abstract characteristics of “Spirit”  Spirit’s most essential characteristic, or internal principle, is freedom (ability to self-determine) o This freedom makes Spirit completely self-sufficient o This self-sufficiency implies Spirit’s self-consciousness (subject & object coincide – “that I know” = “what I know” (the real is rational and the rational is real)) o Spirit realizes its inner principle of freedom by unfolding over human

history  History is the story of the development of consciousness and freedom in the world  Subjective, objective, absolute 2) The means that Spirit uses to realize its Idea  The means of Spirt is the individual or subjective will o Human needs, desires, interests = PASSION  World-historical individuals (Caesar, Napoleon, etc)  Cunning of reason: the process by which individual passions are used by Reason for its own purposes Two Misconceptions About the State  The view that it limits natural freedom  The view that it is based upon a patriarchal model Three Aspects of Spirit that State gives rise to: 1) Art: expresses Idea ins sensual 2) Religion: in feeling and intuition 3) Philosophy: in thought...