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Philosophy of Right remains among the most influential works in Western political theory. It introduces a notion of civil society that has proven of inestimable importance to diverse philosophical and social agendas. In this transcription of the lectures that formed the initial version of Hegel's text, the philosopher presents his thought with a clarity and directness seldom matched in his later writings. Nowhere does Hegel make clearer the difference between his concept of objective spirit and traditional concepts of natural law. Nowhere does he offer a more prominent treatment of the key notion of recognition. The long-awaited appearance of this first English-language translation of these lectures is a major event for Hegel scholars, philosophers, and political theorists. ... Read more

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No philosopher has held a higher opinion of art than Hegel, yet nor was any so profoundly pessimistic about its prospects despite living in the German golden age of Goethe, Mozart and Schiller. For if the artists of classical Greece could find the perfect fusion of content and form, modernity faced complicating and ultimately disabling questions. Christianity, with its code of unworldliness, had compromised the immediacy of man's relationship with reality, and ironic detachment had alienated him from his deepest feelings. Hegel's "Introductory Lectures on Aesthetics" were delivered in Berlin in the 1820s and stand today as a passionately argued work that challenged the ability of art to respond to the modern world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Hegel sees art as cultural phenomena that has deep significance for understanding reality
I read this book for a graduate seminar on the philosophy of art.Bernard Bosanquet's book "Introductory Lectures of Aesthetics" is a great way to learn about G. W. F. Hegel's ideas on how art, religion, and philosophy interact and should not be seen as sharp divisions of thought.

It is important to note that the Germans look on art as more than art.They look on art as cultural phenomena that has deep significance for understanding reality and not just to study experiences and such.Hegel is reacting to the modern model of aesthetics and the expression theory of Kant.Hegel looks on art as a fundamental development of the "spirit" spirit meaning thought culture and so on.Hegel had this relation between art, religion, and philosophy by religion he means a more developed religion that has more of an element of thought in it and how it talks about the nature of the world and the creation and purpose of the world.However, art in terms of poetry and the visual arts Hegel thinks is the first form that spirit takes as a sensuous form.The idea of a sensuous medium seems to be a necessary condition, in that art is fashioned in its own kind of material into a product that communicates something.Hegel says forms of art in history come before developed systems like religion and philosophy.By that, he means the human spirit is evolving and that the first forms indicate the representing of ideas and spiritual notions of sensuous forms.He does not at all hold to the idea that art is simply the expressions of subjective faculties.Hegel thinks of art as a manifestation of elements of reality, but in an early form.This is Hegel's developmental theory that spirit progresses.Organized religion expands to getting into philosophy that gets much closer to the truth by being more conceptual and theoretical.

The important influence Hegel had is on the overall theory of Greek tragedy as an avenue to thought and not just tragedy.For example, throughout my years of studying the play "Antigone," I have been impressed by learning the fact that between Aristotle and Freud critics, philosophers and scholars have written so much about the play.There can be no doubt this is due to the fact as I have discovered "Antigone" was so successful at providing a lens for one to "see," and thus understand the essence of human life with all its tragic pitfalls.In particular, Hegel spent a considerable amount of time gleaning lessons from "Antigone"that have helped me to use it as a lens to "see" more clearly how humans have to question and ultimately choose between competing moral choices.

According to Hegel's account of Greek tragedy, Hegel did not view Greek tragedy as a collision between good and evil, but between competing goods.In addition, Hegel proposes in his interpretation of Greek tragedy, that the sufferings of the tragic hero are merely the means of reconciling the opposing moral goods--between two entirely ethical worlds that clash and cannot come together.Both Antigone and Creon have a moral vision or belief that they are destined to follow, which is the one-sidedness of their moral vision that clashes with the one-sidedness of the other character's moral vision.Both sides of contradiction are justified.Hegel finds that it is the conflict of irreconcilable yet justifiable moral worlds that will lead to the tragic death of the hero in Greek tragedy.This is an important point that Hegel makes, because I have found throughout my life that like Antigone, rarely am I given the opportunity to choose between good and evil.Usually I have been faced with the tougher moral choice of having to choose between moral goods.This is a great book that explores Hegel's philosophical writings, which opens up the world disclosiveness of Greek tragedy and the lessons they can still teach us today.

I recommend this work for anyone interested in philosophy, philosophy of art, Greek culture, and Greek tragedy.

Hegel
This book presents the text with a great introduction and a superb appendix, thus making the book half text and half commentary ... perfect for the student.this text might be a nice way to slide into Hegel.Plus, Penguin Books smell so nice. ... Read more

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This is a new translation, with running commentary, of what is perhaps the most important short piece of Hegel's writing. The Preface to Hegel's first major work, the Phenomenology of Spirit, lays the groundwork for all his other writing by explaining what is most innovative about Hegel's philosophy.

This new translation combines readability with maximum precision, breaking Hegel's long sentences and simplifying their often complex structure. At the same time, it is more faithful to the original than any previous translation.

The heart of the book is the detailed commentary, supported by an introductory essay. Together they offer a lucid and elegant explanation of the text and elucidate difficult issues in Hegel, making his claims and intentions intelligible to the beginner while offering interesting and original insights to the scholar and advanced student. The commentary often goes beyond the particular phrase in the text to provide systematic context and explain related topics in Hegel and his predecessors (including Kant, Spinoza, and Aristotle, as well as Fichte, Schelling, Hölderlin, and others).

The commentator refrains from playing down (as many interpreters do today) those aspects of Hegel's thought that are less acceptable in our time, and abstains from mixing his own philosophical preferences with his reading of Hegel's text. His approach is faithful to the historical Hegel while reconstructing Hegel's ideas within their own context. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An Outstanding Introduction to Hegel
Hegel (1770 -- 1831) is probably the most difficult and the most controversial of the great philosophers.Much of modern analytic philosophy, beginning with Russell and Moore, had its origin in an uncompromising rejection of Hegel (in the persons of his British idealist followers) and his obscurantism. Continental philosophers, such as Heidegger, are heavily indebted to Hegel even while philosophizing against him. I have had difficulty in prior attempts to read Hegel. His massive "Phenomenology of Spirit" proved nearly impenetrable when I read it several years ago.The short introductory secondary sources on Hegel that I read proved unsatisfactory.

Thus, I was pleased to find and read this short book by Yirmiyahu Yovel, "Hegel's Preface to the Phenomenology of Spirit." Yovel is a Professor of Philosophy at the New School University and Chairmand of the Jerusalem Spinoza Institute. I had earlier read Yovel's two-volume study of Spinoza, "Spinoza and Other Heretics" which made me eager to learn about Hegel from him. Yovel offers an erudite, careful and highly-philosophically informed account of this difficult philosopher.

Even with a philosopher as difficult as Hegel, the best approach begins with the philosopher's own writings rather than a paraphrase. Yovel offers a translation of the Preface to Hegel's "Phenomenology."Written in 1807, the "Phenomenology" remains Hegel's greatest work. A close reading of the Preface, which Hegel wrote after completing his text, may be the best way to begin to understand what he is about. Yovel's translation is as accessible and accurate as a translation of such a work may be. But the major appeal of his version of the Preface is the running commentary which explains and elucidates Hegel's words on an almost line-by-line basis, trying to clarify Hegel's thought and its many differing interpretations. After reading through the Preface and Yovel's commentary, I tried to read the Preface alone, without reference to the notes. This remains a daunting task. The better approach remains to read the Preface closely several times, together with Yovel's commentary.

The text and commentary forms about one-half of the book.Yovel begins with an introductory 60-page essay which, he observes, "is not intended to replace the commentary but to complement it." Much of the introduction is spent explaining Hegel's difficult metaphysical concepts which are anathema to most contemporary philosophers. Even if much of Hegel's metaphysical baggage is rejected, as it should be, Yovel argues persuasively that it must be understood in order to know Hegel and to find whatever may be valuable in his thought. Yovel tries to explain two of the most famous and puzzling statements in Hegel: that "the true is the whole" and that "the true [the absolute] is subject." He offers parallells and divergences between Hegel's thought and that of Kant and Spinoza. Yovel differentiates Hegel's idealism from that of his former friends and post-Kantian thinkers, Fichte, Schelling and Holderlin, in elucidating Hegel's rejection of "mysticism" and commitment to what he viewed as "reason". The introduction concludes with a consideration of what Yovel finds valuable in Hegel, including his commitment to a this-worldy philosophy of immancence which tries to avoid both positivism and spiritualism, a recognition that human reason is substantive rather than a formal machine-like calculus, and a concern with the meaning of existence and with the role of human activity in bringing it about (rather than finding it ready-made somewhere).Yovel also emphasizes the dynamic character of Hegel's thought, with its emphasis on becoming, the abandoning of substance-based metaphysics, and historicism. Yovel finds that the key to developing these themes for contemporary thought lies in renouncing Hegel's inflated claims to certainty and to absolute knowledge.The result would be a philosophy that "would no longer be Hegel but would not have been possible without him." (p. 62)

The book concludes with a section on "Works on Hegel" in which Yovel describes some of the competing interpretations of Hegel that have been offered in recent years together with a select but detailed annotated bibliography for further study.

This book gave me more of an understanding and appreciation of Hegel than I had before I read it. Yovel's passion for his subject and for philosophy and his commitment to its importance is apparent on every page. This is not a book for the beginner in philosophy. But it is a rare book in that it will teach both readers new to Hegel as well as the readers who have studied him for many years.

Robin Friedman

Looks like a great tool.
Perused this in the real-world bookstore two nights ago.Half the book is Yovel's introduction, the other half is his commentary on the Preface.

The commentary not only identifies allusions to Schelling et al., but does a good job of identifying Hegelian terms of art (like "immediacy") and explaining them.Yovel also discusses places he disagrees with Miller's translations of terms or phrases.

With Yovel under your belt, you are surely much better prepared to tackle the "Phenomenology." ... Read more

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The present reissue of Wallace's translation of Hegel's Philosophy of Mind includes the Zusatze or lecture-notes which, in the collected works, accompany the first section entitled "Subjective Mind" and which Wallace omitted from his translation. Professor J. N. Findlay has written a Foreword and this replaces Wallace's introductory essays. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

This is awful
This is an edition of the book translated by a robot, so there are multiple typos and unclear section divisions.You can barely read it!

Not for the casual reader.
This work is seminal.Every philosophy after Hegel is either a reaction to him or a footnote.His method has achieved scientific verification in the past century in the areas of developmental psychology (Margaret Mahler), in historicism, in embryological development, and theology (Tillich).It shows that wisdom is timeless and although written 200 years ago, Hegel's truth is valid and not subject to fashions as they so often are in philosophy.

This said, I have to say it is not rewarding to read this book unless you have familiarity with German idealism through Kant.Also, a thorough reading of Hegel's Logic is a prerequiste.Few people will understand this book without reading it in the original German as Hegel himself reframes the German language into a new way of thinking. I think all great philosophies shape the language they speak in profound ways. That is why it is so difficult to understand Hegel in English translation.You would have to create a whole new philosophy along Hegelian lines made for the English thinker. This is the daunting task of all translators. There obviously are concepts in Western thought that are portable across "platforms" and this is why translating Hegel happens at all in English.However the way concepts are used, the "process" of the concepts -- the "syntagms" -- is not entirely the same in both languages.

I wrote my master's thesis in philosophy on this work.At that time I could think Hegelian with the best of them but have lost the skill.Now I can't even understand what I wrote 20 years after the fact without going back to school.I have not been speaking Hegelian since then. A pity.

So, to get the most out of it, read this book in a structured environment where one has easy access to help. It will change your life as it has mine.

Developing dialectical, historical thought
An advanced course in Hegel is probably the course which shuttled me forward toward a career in philosophy (and, eventually, theology).It is partly the responsibility of Hegel's thought and part my teacher (look up books by DG Leahy if you are interested in the first real new philosophy of the 21st century).Anyway, back to Hegel's "Mind."In this work, Hegel has created a tour-de-force in systematic philosophy following Kant.

though Kant has adopted the dualism of Plato, Hegel's synthesizing of Kant's ideas has resulted in an amazingly complex but understandable and brilliant work.Hegel proposes that the Mind is the second moment in a three-fold syllogism, following Nature but preceeding Logic (Reason).Here, Hegel explores the nuances of the Mind.Though the other two volumes of the three volume set are important, it seems Mind contains all the ideas of the other two.

If you enjoy hard German philosophy and have a penchant for the absolute idea, read Hegel as soon as possible!

The Development of Absolute Spirit
G.W.F. Hegel is surely one of the most notable figures in German Philosophy. His 'Philosophy of Mind' (also known as 'The Philosophy of Spirit') is the third part of an encyclopaedia work showing, in essence,the dialectical 'nature' of the world as a Notion.In his earlier works inthis triad (The 'Logic' and 'The Philosophy of Nature') Hegel dealt with,first, the logically necessary principle of explanation for the world andthen, secondly, the essence of nature as prior to the development of theMind. This work deals with the nature of Mind as it goes from subjectivityto objectivity through the stages Anthropological, Phenomenological andPsychological, producing Absolute Spirit, a notion that is then used byHegel to explain the moral and legal.This is not an easier book to read;the language is convoluted and it may take several readings to gleamanything useful from it. This is partially due to the difficulty oftranslating German terms to the English and also partially due to thewriting style of Hegel himself. However I do recommend that the readerpersevere, as it is a very rewarding book to read. You need not agreeentirely with what Hegel says to appreciate his philosophy and see theimport of what he is trying to do; explain everything from a position oflogical necessity. The accompanying Zusatz is also of great use, as itgives more concrete examples used in the actual lectures Hegel based thiswork upon. All in all, a momentuous book in the history of Philosophyitself and worth reading for the depth and breadth of ideas containedwithin it. ... Read more

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An English translation of Hegel's introduction to his lectures on the philosophy of history, based directly on the standard German edition by Johannes Hoffmeister, first published in 1955. The previous English translation, by J. Sibree, first appeared in 1857 and was based on the defective German edition of Karl Hegel, to which Hoffmeister's edition added a large amount of new material previously unknown to English readers, derived from earlier editors. In the introduction to his lectures, Hegel lays down the principles and aims which underlie his philosophy of history, and provides an outline of the philosophy of history itself. The comprehensive and voluminous survey of world history which followed the introduction in the original lectures is of less interest to students of Hegel's thought than the introduction, and is therefore not included in this volume. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great philosopher on importance of history!
I read this book for a graduate class in history.Hegel's philosophy of history is perhaps the most fully developed philosophical theory of history that attempts to discover meaning or direction in history.Hegel incorporates a deeper historicism into his philosophical theories than his predecessors or successors. According to Hegel, the events whose story is told by political and legal history can be given a philosophical interpretation that will bring out its philosophical meaning.He does this himself in his lectures on the Philosophy of History.He views it to be a central task for philosophy to comprehend its place in the unfolding of history.History is for Hegel the development of Freedom, or rather, of the consciousness of Freedom.History is the process by which Spirit becomes conscious of itself.Individual thinkers, artists, and historical actors are primarily the means or instruments by which the collective spirit (God in the world) becomes conscious of truth.

Hegel constructs world history into a narrative of stages of human freedom, from the public freedom of the polis and the citizenship of the Roman Republic, to the individual freedom of the Protestant Reformation, to the civic freedom of the modern state.He attempts to incorporate the civilizations of India and China into his understanding of world history, though he regards those civilizations as static and therefore pre-historical.He constructs specific moments as "world-historical" events that were in the process of bringing about the final, full stage of history and human freedom.For example, Napoleon's conquest of much of Europe is portrayed as a world-historical event doing history's work by establishing the terms of the rational bureaucratic state.Hegel finds reason in history; but it is a latent reason, and one that can only be comprehended when the fullness of history's work is finished.

Many in Western Europe saw Europe or the Western European nations as the pinnacle of historical development, poised to carry their mission civilisatrice to Asia, Africa, Oceania.Yes, they could say, ancient civilizations had contributed to the eventual emergence of modern European civilization, but Europe had integrated what was valuable in those ancient insights into a higher form and it could now turn around and offer this higher form of culture to the rest of humanity who had remained "backward" and "underdeveloped."Hegel has very little to say about the New World.He acknowledges that the Native Americans have been overtaken by Europeans, thus the New World is a continuation of the Old World in its civilization and culture.He sees history progressing in America (populated by Englishmen), but finds that it has not matured yet.He sees America as a growing, prosperous, and industrious nation with a population that is a federation of people who love freedom.However, the nation is not politically fixed yet and he thinks, "a real state and a real government will arise only after a distinction of classes has arisen, when wealth and poverty become extreme."However, this can't happen as long as America has vast territory for people to expand and populate, he thinks these changes can't come about until America is as crowded as Europe so that people agitate each other and clamor for change.I think Hegel foresaw the Civil War.I think the America he ultimately envisioned is finally here today.Our country seems to be equally divided politically and I am not sure our present political institutions can hold us together.

Hegel once described Napoleon, whom he observed in the flesh just before or after one of Napoleon's major victories, as "the world spirit on horseback."Napoleon at that time was a major expression of the dynamic process which was transforming Europe in a certain direction.When Napoleon had served his purpose, he was discarded by the World Spirit, which then adopted other political leaders as its means.

It is worth observing that Hegel's philosophy of history is not the caricature of speculative philosophical reasoning that analytic philosophers sometimes paint it.His philosophical approach is not based solely on foundational a priori reasoning.Instead he proposes an "immanent" encounter between philosophical reason and the historical given.His prescription is that the philosopher should seek to discover the rational within the real--not to impose the rational upon the real."To comprehend what is, this is the task of philosophy, because what is, is reason."Hegel's approach is neither purely philosophical nor purely empirical; instead, he undertakes to discover within the best historical knowledge of his time, an underlying rational principle that can be philosophically articulated.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.
... Read more

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This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR’d book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's large-scale digitization efforts. The Library seeks to preserve the intellectual content of items in a manner that facilitates and promotes a variety of uses. The digital reformatting process results in an electronic version of the original text that can be both accessed online and used to create new print copies. The Library also understands and values the usefulness of print and makes reprints available to the public whenever possible. This book and hundreds of thousands of others can be found in the HathiTrust, an archive of the digitized collections of many great research libraries. For access to the University of Michigan Library's digital collections, please see http://www.lib.umich.edu and for information about the HathiTrust, please visit http://www.hathitrust.org ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more