The Philosophy Of Hegel

by Walter Terence Stace

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Philosophy

540 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

Walter Terence Stace was a British civil servant, educator, philosopher and epistemologist, who wrote on Hegel, mysticism, and moral relativism. He worked with the Ceylon Civil Service from 1910 and 1932, thereafter he worked at Princeton University till his retirement in 1955, as professor of philosophy, and subsequently remained professor emeritus of philosophy.[3] He is most known for his work in philosophy of mysticism, and books like Mysticism and Philosophy (1960) and Teachings of the Mystics (1960).

- Wikipedia

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read The Phenomenology of Mind at seminary in a class taught by a visiting French-Swiss scholar, Henri Mottu. Much of the German philosophy of the period derived from Kant, representing various takes on the man's work, and Hegel's was, I thought, the most ambitious. While Kant's model was essentially static, Hegel's was dynamic, the dynamic being human history. While for Kant the Idea was approached, by never attained, primarily by epistemological considerations, for Hegel the approach was, as he represented it in this book, described by a constructive appropriation of the history of ideas. It was alluring indeed, my excitement being perhaps one of the last times I entertained the notion of progress so central to our culture.

Of course, I was suspicious, suspicious that Hegel, like my younger self, simply bought into the assumption of progress and cherry picked his historical facts and trends to confirm it. That's why I bought and read Stace, the first real (I don't count Kojeve) commentator on Hegel that I was to study. Was I missing something? Could I be convinced?

Well, I wasn't apparently and I couldn't. Still, Stace was excellently clear and concise.

On reflection, I see a clear "progress" from Kant through Hegel to Marx. What Marx added was a socio-economic engine to drive history, replacing Hegel's idealistic teleology with a material etiology. Here the argument, based as it is on empirical facts, can be divorced from any a priori wishful thinking. One can be a Marxist in the sense of buying into Marx' hope in socialist revolution. One can also be a Marxist by simply buying into his method.

I started reading Stace at a bowling alley in or near Stevensville, Michigan, accompanied by the equally studious Michael Miley. It was about a five mile walk along the lakefront and through the dunes and woods to that place from the cabin we were staying at--a good, thirsty walk. We'd drink beer silently, books before us in the virtually deserted bar area. By the second pitcher we'd start talking. By the third pitcher the books were forgotten, though what they were about might be the topic of our conversation. --Good memories, these.

[مسعود حسینی · Rating 3 out of 5]

این کتاب که فلسفه هگل رو با نظر به 'منطق' و 'دایره المعارف' شرح میده، شرح خیلی خوبی در میان شرح های فلسفه هگل نیست، ولی برای کسی که بالذات هگلیه واقعیت ذاتش رو آشکار می کنه: به بیان ساده، آدم با خوندنش می فهمه که هگلیه یا نه! همین که فهمید هگلیه باید این کتاب رو بذاره یه گوشه و بره سراغ شرح های بهتر یا اگه خیلی ذهن خفنی داشت بره سراغ خود هگل.

[Samir Dathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The merit of Stace's book is that it runs through Hegel's entire system in transparent English. This, coupled with the nifty thematic exposition at the beginning of the book, will give you a panoramic view of Hegel's philosophy.

The demerit is that Stace covers so much ground so rapidly that you come away without understanding the micro-transitions of the dialectic progression, which really is where the action happens.

If instead you want insight into Hegel's method at a granular level, I recommend Stephen Houlgate's 'From Being to Infinity' which gives a close reading of the opening section of the Science of Logic. Then you can return to Stace with a firm grounding of how Hegel's dialectic actually works.

Stace's book also contains a pull-out diagram of Hegel's entire system laid out in its triadic splendour. A bloody useful resource, as you can see...

[Parastou_Rostami · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتابی به امانت گرفته شده از علی عزیزم که سواد من راجع به هگل را تا حد زیادی تغییر داد ، با اینکه نثر سختی داشت ولی از خواندنش بسی لذت بردم .

[Hamed · Rating 4 out of 5]

علی رغم فحشهایی که قاره ایها میدهند کتاب بسیار دقیقی است برای فهم هگل

[Gerald Sigmund · Rating 5 out of 5]

Special book

[Jon Stout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only a philosopher could enjoy Hegel's wildly speculative Idea, though it has its rewards.

[Enes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bendeki kitap yine Murat Belge çevirisiydi ama yayınevi Fol Kitap'tı (Goodreads'e bu versiyonu eklenmemiş galiba).

Öncelikle bu kitap, bu kadar zevk alarak okuduğum nadir felsefe kitaplarından biri oldu benim için. Belli ki Stace başarılı bir felsefe öğretmeni olmanın yanı sıra Hegel felsefesine de çok hakim.

Kitap, Yunan İdealizminden başlayıp Hegel felsefesine kadar Hegel'i etkileyen filozofları ve düşünceleri açıklayarak ilerliyor. Yine idealist felsefe odaklı olduğu için genellikle ontoloji, epistemoloji ve mantık felsefesi etrafında yoğunlaşmış bir kitap.

Bunların dışında çeviri tam değil yani bazı kısımlar çevrilmemiş (önsözü okumadan alanlara kötü haber :d) ama tam çeviri olmasa da olurmuş hatta daha iyi olmuş diyebiliyorsunuz, en azından ben biraz öyle hissettim. Böyle hissetmemde de sonlara doğru Hegel'in felsefesinde varlık ve yokluğun özdeş tutulmasına gidilmesi ana neden oldu.

Normalde çevirmenlerin kitaba kendi yazılarını eklemesini hiç sevmem ancak bu kitapta Murat Belge'nin yazıları sırıtmamış ve kitabı okurken anlam veremediğiniz kısımlara dair güzel açıklamalar yapılmış. Özellikle "Hegel ve Hristiyanlık" yazısı bayağı düşündürücüydü.

Son olarak Hegel, felsefenin tam orta yerinde duran bir isim o yüzden eğer az çok felsefeyle ilgiliyseniz illa ki bir yerden sonra Hegel'in felsefesi hakkında bir şeyler bilmek zorunda kalıyorsunuz. Ancak Hegel'i kendi kitaplarından okuyup anlamak çoğu amatör-orta seviye felsefe okuyucusu için mümkün değil. Sonuç olarak Hegel uzmanı olmak gibi bir amacım yok ama Hegel'i bilmek zorunda hissediyorum diyorsanız ideal bir kitap.

[Andrew Wyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only half way through and it’s so good I needed to write a review

Tried to approach Hegel on my own, that was a failure

Tried to use the internet, the web is full of Hegel BS’ers who don’t even know what they are trying to say themselves

This book holistically shows Hegel’s philosophy in all its beauty in thorough but very approachable writing.

This book was also written ~75 years ago, so it was written in a less bloated academic environment then today when Professors actually knew and loved their material and didn’t feel the need to prove it with obfuscating language.

He also shows the history and connection of thought from Ancient Greek philosophers to German philosophers up to Hegel.

Can’t recommend this book enough if Hegel interests you.
His philosophy is really beautiful once you fight through it.

[Chant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can imagine that no single philosopher could condense or simplify Hegel's speculative philosophy, however, Stace's treatment was a good try! Even though the text clocks in around 500 pages or so, the book goes at a fairly high clip, all to get as much of Hegel into those 500 pages, which I think he did a good job.

I typically do not do proper 'reviews' on this website. Still, I would recommend picking this up if you come across it in a bookstore or online if you want a general 'gist' of what Hegel was attempting to do with his whole metaphysical system.

[Navid Hamzavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

برای ورود به هگل کتابی ست ارزشمند

[Roberto Yoed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hegel would be proud of the systematization of his systematization.

[Lawrence Cusipag · Rating 5 out of 5]

A systematic approach to Hegelian philosophy.

[White Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

第一部分读完了，极好的黑格尔哲学入门书，非常通俗易懂，厘清了不少概念，使我又重拾了啃原著的信心。前两章讲哲学史，黑格尔哲学的一些特点是怎么从以往的哲学发展出来的，所谓“普遍哲学”传统。第三章讲黑格尔哲学本身，讲《逻辑学》是怎么来的，还有辩证法的无穷威力，伟大。第一部分需要精读、重复读和重点把握，后文简要推演《百科全书》，读原著时可对照。

[Fact100 · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Logos, etc.”nın Hegel buluşmasına hazırlık olması adına okuduğum diğer bir kitap ise Stace’in yazdığı “Hegel Üzerine” oldu. Kapak tasarımı ve Murat Belge çevirisi oluşuyla dikkatimi çeken bu kitap, yukarıda bahsettiğim kitabın tam tersi bir etki yaratarak pek de fayda bulamadığım, hatta kısmen hayal kırıklığı yaratan bir okuma oldu.

Kıta Avrupasının en önemli düşünürlerinden olan Hegel, 20. yüzyılın başlarında İngilizce konuşan dünyada hâkim olan analitik felsefenin mantıksal çözümleme ve deneysel doğrulama ölçütleri karşısında (başta B. Russell ve G. E. Moore tarafından) genellikle dogmatik ve spekülatif bir figür olarak sunulmuş.

Bu geleneği sürdüren Stace, Hegel'in felsefesini daha anlaşılır kılmak adına sadeleştirme gayretiyle onu basit bir formüle (tez-antitez-sentez) indirgeyerek, tek boyutlu ve şematik bir yapı ortaya koyuyor.

Kitabın en önemli eksiği ise çevirmen tarafından özetlenerek çevrilmesi, birçok kısmın da kitap dışında bırakılması. 1986 yılında yapılan bu çeviriyi, bütün bir hâle getirmek yerine günahıyla sevabıyla tekrar basmak, pek tabii yayınevinin tercihi, ama beni hiç mutlu etmedi.

Bu kitabı, Hegel’den ziyade 20. yüzyıl başlarında İngiltere’deki Hegel algısını anlamamıza yardım edebilecek bir kitabın 1980’li yılların Türkiye’sinde nasıl ele alındığı ve yorumlandığını merak eden okurlara önerimdir.

[Choi Wah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is clear.
The arguments within Hegel's system are explicified by the author.
I am not sure whether the interpretation is correct, but at least the product is readable and insightful.
If Hegel's system can be divided into three parts, i.e., logic, natural and spiritual, I like the logic part but I don't like the natural and spiritual parts.
So, I enjoy the first 1/3 part of this book but not the other 2/3.

[Sara-Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Really clear and systematic working through of Hegel's deductions. I feel like I'm finally catching on to something of his thought or at least the fairly standard interpretation of Hegel's work. I'd give five stars to the experience during the read of about twenty books I've read prior retroactively taking on a different/richer meaning.

[Garth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent summary of Hegel's system