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Philosophers in 90 Minutes #8
Hegel: Philosophy in an Hour
Philosophy for busy people. Read a succinct account of the philosophy of Hegel in just one hour.
With Hegel philosophy became very difficult indeed – even the great man himself conceded that ‘only one man understands me, and even he does not.’ His dialectical method produced the most grandiose metaphysical system known to humanity, and included absolutely everything, its most vital element being the dialectic of the thesis, antithesis and synthesis. This method arose from Hegel’s ambition to overcome the deficiencies of logic and ascend towards Mind as the ultimate reality. His view of history as a process of humanity’s self-realisation ultimately inspired Marx to synthesise his philosophy of dialectical materialism.
Here is a concise, expert account of Hegel’s life and philosophical ideas – entertainingly written and easy to understand. Also included are selections from Hegel’s work, suggested further reading, and chronologies that place Hegel in the context of the broader scheme of philosophy.
94 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 7, 2012
21 people are currently reading
359 people want to read
About the author
Paul Strathern
160 books544 followersPaul Strathern (born 1940) is a English writer and academic. He was born in London, and studied at Trinity College, Dublin, after which he served in the Merchant Navy over a period of two years. He then lived on a Greek island. In 1966 he travelled overland to India and the Himalayas. His novel A Season in Abyssinia won a Somerset Maugham Award in 1972.
Besides five novels, he has also written numerous books on science, philosophy, history, literature, medicine and economics.
Besides five novels, he has also written numerous books on science, philosophy, history, literature, medicine and economics.
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March 23, 2024
هگل فیلسوف سرشناس آلمانی قرن نوزده و یکی از بنیان گذاران ایده الیسم مطلق بوده . هگل را غالبا به عنوان آخرین فیلسوف بزرگ دستگاهساز در تاریخ فلسفه غرب می شناسند . او معتقد بود که واقعیت یک کل واحد و منطقی است که در حال تطور و تحول است. او این تحول را دیالکتیک مینامید.
دیالکتیک فرآیندی است که در آن هر ایده یا مفهومی (تز) با مخالف خود (آنتیتز) مواجه میشود. از این مواجهه ایده یا مفهوم جدیدی (سنتز)به وجود میآید. سنتز به نوبه خود به تز جدیدی تبدیل میشود و این فرآیند به طور مداوم ادامه مییابد.
هگل استدلال می کرد که واقعیت در حال تطور و تحول است و این تطور از طریق دیالکتیک صورت میگیرد. او معتقد بود که در نهایت همه تضادها و تناقضات در واقعیت حل خواهند شد و به وحدت کامل خواهیم رسید.
هگل معتقد بود که تاریخ نیز از طریق دیالکتیک توسعه مییابد. او تاریخ را به سه دوره شرقی ، دوره یونانی – رومی و مدرن تقسیم کرد . او معتقد بود که دوره مدرن نقطه اوج تاریخ است ، یعنی در این دوره، انسان به آزادی و آگاهی کامل دست می یابد . از نگاه هگل هر دوره تاریخی دربردارنده تز، آنتیتز و سنتز است در این جا هم تز یک ایده یا نظریه آنتیتز ایدهای مخالف تز و سنتز ترکیبی از تز و آنتیتز است که به ایدهای جدید و کاملتر منجر میشود.
غالبا فلسفه هگل را یکی از سخت ترین فلسفه ها دانسته اند ، دلیل دشوار بودن فلسفه هگل استفاده از کلمات و اصطلاحات پیچیده و انتزاعی ، یعنی دور بودن مفاهیم آنها از واقعیت محسوس و درک آن ها تنها توسط ذهن است .
کتاب آشنایی با هگل ، مطابق انتظار ، بیشتر به زندگی هگل پرداخته تا فلسفه او . البته با توجه به دشوار بودن فلسفه هگل ، به نظر می رسد شرح مقدماتی یا آشنایی با فلسفه او در نود دقیقه ، کاری بسیار سخت و شاید هم ناممکن باشد . استراترن نتوانسته فلسفه پیچیده هگل ، یا دست کم رئوس آن را بیان کند . کتاب او در حالی که مدعی معرفی هگل در نود دقیقه است، حتی در ارائه ی تصویری کلی از اندیشه های این فیلسوف آلمانی ناکام مانده .
دیالکتیک فرآیندی است که در آن هر ایده یا مفهومی (تز) با مخالف خود (آنتیتز) مواجه میشود. از این مواجهه ایده یا مفهوم جدیدی (سنتز)به وجود میآید. سنتز به نوبه خود به تز جدیدی تبدیل میشود و این فرآیند به طور مداوم ادامه مییابد.
هگل استدلال می کرد که واقعیت در حال تطور و تحول است و این تطور از طریق دیالکتیک صورت میگیرد. او معتقد بود که در نهایت همه تضادها و تناقضات در واقعیت حل خواهند شد و به وحدت کامل خواهیم رسید.
هگل معتقد بود که تاریخ نیز از طریق دیالکتیک توسعه مییابد. او تاریخ را به سه دوره شرقی ، دوره یونانی – رومی و مدرن تقسیم کرد . او معتقد بود که دوره مدرن نقطه اوج تاریخ است ، یعنی در این دوره، انسان به آزادی و آگاهی کامل دست می یابد . از نگاه هگل هر دوره تاریخی دربردارنده تز، آنتیتز و سنتز است در این جا هم تز یک ایده یا نظریه آنتیتز ایدهای مخالف تز و سنتز ترکیبی از تز و آنتیتز است که به ایدهای جدید و کاملتر منجر میشود.
غالبا فلسفه هگل را یکی از سخت ترین فلسفه ها دانسته اند ، دلیل دشوار بودن فلسفه هگل استفاده از کلمات و اصطلاحات پیچیده و انتزاعی ، یعنی دور بودن مفاهیم آنها از واقعیت محسوس و درک آن ها تنها توسط ذهن است .
کتاب آشنایی با هگل ، مطابق انتظار ، بیشتر به زندگی هگل پرداخته تا فلسفه او . البته با توجه به دشوار بودن فلسفه هگل ، به نظر می رسد شرح مقدماتی یا آشنایی با فلسفه او در نود دقیقه ، کاری بسیار سخت و شاید هم ناممکن باشد . استراترن نتوانسته فلسفه پیچیده هگل ، یا دست کم رئوس آن را بیان کند . کتاب او در حالی که مدعی معرفی هگل در نود دقیقه است، حتی در ارائه ی تصویری کلی از اندیشه های این فیلسوف آلمانی ناکام مانده .
March 8, 2016
کتاب با این جمله ی کوبنده ی شوپنهاور شروع میشه، فیلسوف معاصر هگل، که تحت الشعاع شهرت هگل، کلاس هاش خلوت شده بود:
نهایت جسارت در یاوه سرایی محض، در به هم بافتن کلاف های سردرگم سخنان ابلهانه و خیالی - از آن دست که پیش تر تنها در دیوانه خانه ها سراغش را می شد گرفت - در هگل نمودار شد؛ چیزی که در نظر آیندگان، به عنوان نمونه ی بارز حماقت آلمانی باقی خواهد ماند.
و میشه از همین جمله دید که نویسنده شمشیر نقد خودشو از رو بسته. کتاب در حقیقت نباید "آشنایی با هگل" نامیده میشد، چون نویسنده تلاش زیادی برای آشنا کردن مخاطب با هگل نمیکنه، بلکه در حقیقت باید "نقدی کوتاه بر هگل" نامیده میشد.
و از اون جا که باید نظرات هر دو طرف یه فلسفه رو دید، هم موافقان و هم مخالفان، در نتیجه این کتاب به عنوان دومین کتاب هگل شناسی، بعد از کتاب هگل پیتر سینگر، پیشنهاد میشه.
نهایت جسارت در یاوه سرایی محض، در به هم بافتن کلاف های سردرگم سخنان ابلهانه و خیالی - از آن دست که پیش تر تنها در دیوانه خانه ها سراغش را می شد گرفت - در هگل نمودار شد؛ چیزی که در نظر آیندگان، به عنوان نمونه ی بارز حماقت آلمانی باقی خواهد ماند.
و میشه از همین جمله دید که نویسنده شمشیر نقد خودشو از رو بسته. کتاب در حقیقت نباید "آشنایی با هگل" نامیده میشد، چون نویسنده تلاش زیادی برای آشنا کردن مخاطب با هگل نمیکنه، بلکه در حقیقت باید "نقدی کوتاه بر هگل" نامیده میشد.
و از اون جا که باید نظرات هر دو طرف یه فلسفه رو دید، هم موافقان و هم مخالفان، در نتیجه این کتاب به عنوان دومین کتاب هگل شناسی، بعد از کتاب هگل پیتر سینگر، پیشنهاد میشه.
December 24, 2011
What a complete embarrassment this book is. Hegel wrote lots of philosophy, he has been interpreted and followed and reinterpreted by many, many other philosophers of all persuasions – from Marxists to Existentialists to Fascists and just about everything in between. He did much to move philosophy away from being the study of dead logical forms by focusing on becoming, by focusing on change and development as key concerns of philosophy. He did much to move philosophy from a study of ‘things’ to a study of ‘processes’. For that alone we owe him much.
This book is far more interested in telling you over and over again how hard Hegel is to read and how he was building a huge metaphysical system (not meant as a compliment). About the only thing you will learn from this book is that, in part, Hegel's metaphysical system was built on the Triad – thesis, antithesis and synthesis. I’m not going to say this is irrelevant to Hegel’s dialectic – but to present it as virtually all Hegel had to say on the subject is to make Hegel’s dialectic a dead schema of no interest whatsoever. That the dialectic obsessed Marx and that he based the first chapters of Capital on on a straight application of this method would seem incomprehensible from the explanation presented in this book.
It is difficult to know what the point of this book is. Clearly, it is seeking to dissuade readers from ever opening any of Hegel’s works. Now, I’m sure many people would consider this a worthwhile aim in itself – but I suspect that is not what people would expect the book to be about from its title. You might be lead to the mistaken belief that this is a book that will give you an introduction (however brief) to Hegel's philosophy. But like the book in this series on Kant you will learn much more about Hegel's life than about his philosophy.
And also like the work on Kant – there is lots of psycho-babble about Hegel and his sister and speculation of repressed sexual feeling. Now, years ago I read a book that said Freud’s over estimation of the role of sex as a motivator may have come from his addiction to opium. The theory being that opium increases the desire but diminishes the performance and so left (as Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure refers to him) The Frude Dude in a perpetual state of sexual frustration. I can see that this might have something interesting to say about Freud’s theories (and at least it is a turning of the tables in a way that is amusing), but to spend so much time discussing Hegel’s possible incestuous feelings towards his sister – or rather, hers towards him – pretty clearly points to the level this book is pitched.
My advice is not to waste your time.
This book is far more interested in telling you over and over again how hard Hegel is to read and how he was building a huge metaphysical system (not meant as a compliment). About the only thing you will learn from this book is that, in part, Hegel's metaphysical system was built on the Triad – thesis, antithesis and synthesis. I’m not going to say this is irrelevant to Hegel’s dialectic – but to present it as virtually all Hegel had to say on the subject is to make Hegel’s dialectic a dead schema of no interest whatsoever. That the dialectic obsessed Marx and that he based the first chapters of Capital on on a straight application of this method would seem incomprehensible from the explanation presented in this book.
It is difficult to know what the point of this book is. Clearly, it is seeking to dissuade readers from ever opening any of Hegel’s works. Now, I’m sure many people would consider this a worthwhile aim in itself – but I suspect that is not what people would expect the book to be about from its title. You might be lead to the mistaken belief that this is a book that will give you an introduction (however brief) to Hegel's philosophy. But like the book in this series on Kant you will learn much more about Hegel's life than about his philosophy.
And also like the work on Kant – there is lots of psycho-babble about Hegel and his sister and speculation of repressed sexual feeling. Now, years ago I read a book that said Freud’s over estimation of the role of sex as a motivator may have come from his addiction to opium. The theory being that opium increases the desire but diminishes the performance and so left (as Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure refers to him) The Frude Dude in a perpetual state of sexual frustration. I can see that this might have something interesting to say about Freud’s theories (and at least it is a turning of the tables in a way that is amusing), but to spend so much time discussing Hegel’s possible incestuous feelings towards his sister – or rather, hers towards him – pretty clearly points to the level this book is pitched.
My advice is not to waste your time.
August 25, 2014
HAPPILY, HEGEL
kept a diary during his formative years which chronicled in nauseating detail every thought, experience, conversation, snippet of insight gleamed from his voracious readings of any book he could slap his paws on. On any given day an entry would catalogue an exact itinerary of his comings and goings, including detailed opinions on any theater showing or musical performance he happened to catch as well as painfully purple descriptions of the weather. And if for some unforeseen reason a day's entry was lacking his usual microscopic notation, he would shamefully scrawl out an exhaustive reasoning for why he had failed in maintaining his gargantuan expectations of his own pedantry.
shared a sickly symbiotic relationship with his sister which only ended in tragedy for the poor woman who could never accept other women in her brother's life; all of this leading to her spending the last years of her brother's happy marriage as a raving, immobile mass on a couch until she took her own cue from Hamlet's Ophelia and drowned herself in despair over her brother's death.
constructed a crystal palace in his mind and called it a philosophy of everything. Based on the seemingly simple notion that to strive to think about something of course will lead you to also think of its opposite, nothing (in other words, you can't think of happy without also thinking of sad); and that to compose a truth one must find the synthesis of the two (in the case of something and nothing, the synthesis would be being). With this tinkertoy equation in mind Hegel filled page after page with axioms like Lincoln logs, creating a tower which only ever reached nowhere.
wrote in a butchery of German, a mutilation of syntax, a masturbation of muddled thoughts; and in return was rewarded with baffled applause, sycophantic academic kowtowing, and a crown of intellectual celebrity that was placed upon his downward turned brow (after all, he always was a bookish man).
was absolutely loathed by the pragmatic sourpuss Schopenhauer.
wrote insufferable love letters to his future wife in the same awful rhetoric-drunk (that is, his own liberal - to possibly stretch the term past politeness - sense of rhetoric) prose that packed his bloated buch, The Phenomenology of Spirit which allegedly explains his claim to fame, the dialectical system.
gave terribly boring and wholly impenetrable lectures that forced migraines upon even his most fervent admirers, and, in fact, was only ever considered an interesting and lively speaker during his final lecture, which was actually just a symptom of the early fevers of a fatal bout with cholera.
died without knowing that his philosophy, which squashed the individual and tried to seek beauty in the hegemony of authority, would go on to inspire the monsters who put people in furnaces by the millions and painted the sky with ash, because he would have been appalled that his bad poetry of his own thoughts (which were never based on any real reason) would have eventually caused such atrocities. And so it's important to remember that within the crystal palace of his mind, Hegel only ever composed, happily, for Hegel.
kept a diary during his formative years which chronicled in nauseating detail every thought, experience, conversation, snippet of insight gleamed from his voracious readings of any book he could slap his paws on. On any given day an entry would catalogue an exact itinerary of his comings and goings, including detailed opinions on any theater showing or musical performance he happened to catch as well as painfully purple descriptions of the weather. And if for some unforeseen reason a day's entry was lacking his usual microscopic notation, he would shamefully scrawl out an exhaustive reasoning for why he had failed in maintaining his gargantuan expectations of his own pedantry.
shared a sickly symbiotic relationship with his sister which only ended in tragedy for the poor woman who could never accept other women in her brother's life; all of this leading to her spending the last years of her brother's happy marriage as a raving, immobile mass on a couch until she took her own cue from Hamlet's Ophelia and drowned herself in despair over her brother's death.
constructed a crystal palace in his mind and called it a philosophy of everything. Based on the seemingly simple notion that to strive to think about something of course will lead you to also think of its opposite, nothing (in other words, you can't think of happy without also thinking of sad); and that to compose a truth one must find the synthesis of the two (in the case of something and nothing, the synthesis would be being). With this tinkertoy equation in mind Hegel filled page after page with axioms like Lincoln logs, creating a tower which only ever reached nowhere.
wrote in a butchery of German, a mutilation of syntax, a masturbation of muddled thoughts; and in return was rewarded with baffled applause, sycophantic academic kowtowing, and a crown of intellectual celebrity that was placed upon his downward turned brow (after all, he always was a bookish man).
was absolutely loathed by the pragmatic sourpuss Schopenhauer.
wrote insufferable love letters to his future wife in the same awful rhetoric-drunk (that is, his own liberal - to possibly stretch the term past politeness - sense of rhetoric) prose that packed his bloated buch, The Phenomenology of Spirit which allegedly explains his claim to fame, the dialectical system.
gave terribly boring and wholly impenetrable lectures that forced migraines upon even his most fervent admirers, and, in fact, was only ever considered an interesting and lively speaker during his final lecture, which was actually just a symptom of the early fevers of a fatal bout with cholera.
died without knowing that his philosophy, which squashed the individual and tried to seek beauty in the hegemony of authority, would go on to inspire the monsters who put people in furnaces by the millions and painted the sky with ash, because he would have been appalled that his bad poetry of his own thoughts (which were never based on any real reason) would have eventually caused such atrocities. And so it's important to remember that within the crystal palace of his mind, Hegel only ever composed, happily, for Hegel.
November 7, 2019
هگل:
بنابراین،نخستین شرط ظاهری برای دستیابی به هر چیز بزرگ یا عقلانی،خواه در زندگی خواه در علم، استقلال داشتن از افکار عمومی است.به طور قطع
افکار عمومی دیر یا زود چنین دستاوردی را به رسمیت خواهد شناخت و سر وقت آن را به یکی از پیشداوری ها بدل خواهد کرد.
پل استراترن خیلی مغرضانه به نقد از هگل پرداخته و اصلا کتاب منصفانه ای برای شناخت این فیلسوف نیست.
بنابراین،نخستین شرط ظاهری برای دستیابی به هر چیز بزرگ یا عقلانی،خواه در زندگی خواه در علم، استقلال داشتن از افکار عمومی است.به طور قطع
افکار عمومی دیر یا زود چنین دستاوردی را به رسمیت خواهد شناخت و سر وقت آن را به یکی از پیشداوری ها بدل خواهد کرد.
پل استراترن خیلی مغرضانه به نقد از هگل پرداخته و اصلا کتاب منصفانه ای برای شناخت این فیلسوف نیست.
November 28, 2018
Hasty Generalization
This baby book is a reductionist hatchet job on Hegel
Therefore all baby books are reductionist hatchet jobs.
4* for jauntily written, interesting biographical tidbits and general liveliness
-1* for attempting to prejudice this reader contra Hegel before he understands him
-1* for attempting to explain away H's system biographically and then even psychiatrically
-1* for appending critical selection of context-free quotations from Hegel after the main text
+1* for entertaining me nonetheless
-1* for a drive-by hit job on Marx
-1* for other assorted sweeping generalizations not necessitated by format of book, but which seem to arise out of authorial pique
+1 star cos I feel duty bound to be more generous to author than author was to his subject
------------------------------------------------
= either 1 star, 1.75 stars or 2.71828 (it's a natural), depending upon how I feel about all that from moment to moment (and cos I obviously cannot add or subtract)
=2* cos the GR system reflects not merely the subjective experience of reading a book
(I think/felt that "it was OK" --for me, for now),
but properties actually inherent to the Ding an sich
(and cos we work with what they give us).
Thus, and thusly:
"It [really] was OK"
(emphasis added)
(Sub specie aeternitatis, doubtlessly),
except when it wasn't.
This baby book is a reductionist hatchet job on Hegel
Therefore all baby books are reductionist hatchet jobs.
4* for jauntily written, interesting biographical tidbits and general liveliness
-1* for attempting to prejudice this reader contra Hegel before he understands him
-1* for attempting to explain away H's system biographically and then even psychiatrically
-1* for appending critical selection of context-free quotations from Hegel after the main text
+1* for entertaining me nonetheless
-1* for a drive-by hit job on Marx
-1* for other assorted sweeping generalizations not necessitated by format of book, but which seem to arise out of authorial pique
+1 star cos I feel duty bound to be more generous to author than author was to his subject
------------------------------------------------
= either 1 star, 1.75 stars or 2.71828 (it's a natural), depending upon how I feel about all that from moment to moment (and cos I obviously cannot add or subtract)
=2* cos the GR system reflects not merely the subjective experience of reading a book
(I think/felt that "it was OK" --for me, for now),
but properties actually inherent to the Ding an sich
(and cos we work with what they give us).
Thus, and thusly:
"It [really] was OK"
(emphasis added)
(Sub specie aeternitatis, doubtlessly),
except when it wasn't.
January 25, 2011
If you hate Hegel, you will like this book.
If you are indifferent to Hegel, but like things that are funny, you will like this book.
If you love Hegel, you will hate this book.
If you are trying to read up to impress a devout Hegelian, this book will not be useful to you.
If you listen to the audiobook version, you will finish in 80 minutes. (Eighty-five, if you listen to the chronologies.)
If you are indifferent to Hegel, but like things that are funny, you will like this book.
If you love Hegel, you will hate this book.
If you are trying to read up to impress a devout Hegelian, this book will not be useful to you.
If you listen to the audiobook version, you will finish in 80 minutes. (Eighty-five, if you listen to the chronologies.)
April 3, 2020
نخستین شرطِ ظاهری برای دستیابی به هر چیزِ بزرگ یا عقلانی،
خواه در زندگی خواه در علم،
استقلال داشتن از افکارِ عمومی است.
ـ هگل، کتاب فلسفۀ حق
کتاب، در مورد یکی از درخشانترین ذهنهای تاریخ بشریت، هگل، بسیار مغرضانه نوشته شده است و سراسر یاوهگوییهایی است در مورد زندگی و روابط هگل با دیگران، خواهر او و هر آنچه مرتبط با اوست.
تلاش عجیب نویسنده برای بدگویی و بیان یکسری حدس و گمان و منصرف ساختن خواننده برای مراجعه به آثار هگل و نوشتههای دیگران در مورد او، شگفتآور است. هگلِ این کتاب، یک مرد روانپریشِ سربههوا با مزخرفات ذهنی و انبوهی از نوشتههای طولانیِ بیخاصیت در زیر کتاش معرفی میشود.
متن کتاب، کمترین ارتباط را با عنوان آن داشته و بیشتر مشغول به مدح و ستایش کانت، دیگر فیلسوف نامیِ تاریخ است.
این کتاب (نه نسخۀ فارسی و نه انگلیسی) به مخاطبی که هیچگونه آشناییای با هگل ندارد، توصیه نمیشود.
November 14, 2021
"Experience and history teach us this: that nations and governments have never learned a thing from history, or acted in accordance with anything they might have learned from it."--Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History, Introduction.
"So to be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great or rational, either in life or science. Such achievement will assuredly be recognized in time by public opinion, which will duly transform it into one of its own prejudices."--Hegel, The Philosophy of Right, 318.
"As a form of universal family, civil society has the right and duty to supervise and influence education, for education molds a child's ability to become a member of society. In this instance society's right is of far more importance than the arbitrary and contingent wishes of the parents, especially when this education is to be completed not by the parents but by others."--Hegel, The Philosophy of Right, 239.
"Only within the confines of the state does man have a rational existence. The aim of all education is to make sure that the individual ceases to remain purely subjective and obtains an objective existence within the state. . . . He owes his entire existence to the state. . . . Whatever worth and spiritual reality he has are only as a result of the state."--Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History, Introduction.
"In history we are concerned with what has been and what is; in philosophy, on the other hand, we are concerned not with what belongs exclusively to the past or even the future, but with what is, both now and eternally--that is, with reason."--Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History, Introduction.
"There are pages in Hegel which have the same effect in the realm of thought as the sonnets of Mallarme have in the realm of poetry. They are vehicles of evocation and of vague sentimental nuances, nothing more. This does not belittle their value; it may even increase it. Yet verbal narcotics and hypnotic formulations should not be imposed on us as truths."--Giovanni Papini, Four and Twenty Minds.
"So to be independent of public opinion is the first formal condition of achieving anything great or rational, either in life or science. Such achievement will assuredly be recognized in time by public opinion, which will duly transform it into one of its own prejudices."--Hegel, The Philosophy of Right, 318.
"As a form of universal family, civil society has the right and duty to supervise and influence education, for education molds a child's ability to become a member of society. In this instance society's right is of far more importance than the arbitrary and contingent wishes of the parents, especially when this education is to be completed not by the parents but by others."--Hegel, The Philosophy of Right, 239.
"Only within the confines of the state does man have a rational existence. The aim of all education is to make sure that the individual ceases to remain purely subjective and obtains an objective existence within the state. . . . He owes his entire existence to the state. . . . Whatever worth and spiritual reality he has are only as a result of the state."--Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History, Introduction.
"In history we are concerned with what has been and what is; in philosophy, on the other hand, we are concerned not with what belongs exclusively to the past or even the future, but with what is, both now and eternally--that is, with reason."--Hegel, Lectures on the Philosophy of World History, Introduction.
"There are pages in Hegel which have the same effect in the realm of thought as the sonnets of Mallarme have in the realm of poetry. They are vehicles of evocation and of vague sentimental nuances, nothing more. This does not belittle their value; it may even increase it. Yet verbal narcotics and hypnotic formulations should not be imposed on us as truths."--Giovanni Papini, Four and Twenty Minds.
March 10, 2013
خوب به نظر نویسنده خیلی دشمنی عمیقی با هگل داره. قاعدتا چنین کتابهایی رو کسی باید بنویسه که دربارهی اون نویسنده متخصص باشه و علاقهمند بهش. ولی این بندهخدایی که این کتاب رو نوشته از همون مقدمهی کتاب شروع به فحش دادن کرده.
در واقع نویسنده نه تنها با شخص هگل مشکل داره، به لحاظ نظری هم گویا در مقابل دیدگاههای هگل هست. به نظر میرسه که خودش یک راستگرا باشه و حالا داره دربارهی پدرجد چپها توضیح میده
در واقع نویسنده نه تنها با شخص هگل مشکل داره، به لحاظ نظری هم گویا در مقابل دیدگاههای هگل هست. به نظر میرسه که خودش یک راستگرا باشه و حالا داره دربارهی پدرجد چپها توضیح میده
April 30, 2017
I didn't really care for this. Hegel was treated throughout with contempt and as a joke. It is one thing to disagree with a figure you write about and even to show the person's foibles. It is another to describe a person and their work as turgid nonsense. If that is what he thinks he shouldn't have written about Hegel at all.
August 9, 2017
آخر مشخص نشد ترجمه بدی بود یا مثلا تلاشی در پیچیده نویسی هگلی بود !!
اگر به این کتاب به عنوان یافتن یک طرح کلی مراجعه کردید اگر هیچ چیز از هگل ندانید به دلیل پراکنده گویی های متن شدیدا سردرگم میشوید و مشخص نیست این مسئله دسته گل مترجم است یا شاهکار نویسنده :))
اگر به این کتاب به عنوان یافتن یک طرح کلی مراجعه کردید اگر هیچ چیز از هگل ندانید به دلیل پراکنده گویی های متن شدیدا سردرگم میشوید و مشخص نیست این مسئله دسته گل مترجم است یا شاهکار نویسنده :))
January 25, 2019
It gives what I expected and continues to mimic German accent in a nonfunny way.
January 1, 2023
Para una persona que se está iniciando en el la filosofía está genial. Evidentemente se quedará corto en muchas cosas, pero he podido tener un primer acercamiento bastante bueno al la filosofía de este señor.
March 29, 2020
not gonna lie i laughed out loud multiple times. i love paul strathern’s sense of humor. it caught me off guard at first since i was expecting this to be a dry, educational series, but strathern makes his opinions quite clear and i enjoy his storytelling all the more for it. he also takes efforts to humanize the philosophers and paint vivid details of their personal lives, which i appreciate! i’ve found that it’s much easier for me to learn (and actually retain) this way. he doesn’t really go into the nitty gritty details of theory and analysis and focuses more broadly on their life stories and context and historical relevance, which i think was the right choice as an introduction series. he does a fantastic job of grabbing my attention and making me interested in learning more. he really went in on hegel in this one though. he didn’t have to roast the poor man so hard lmao.
October 22, 2014
Paul Strathern is no fan of Hegel. Terms like "monumental obfuscation" and "bereft of meaning" get tossed around and those are not quotes from Hegel's critics, those are quotes from the author. This little book provides a short biography of Hegel and a massive smack-down of his prose style. You may get more detail on Hegel here than you would from a general history of philosophy, but less than say an overview of 18th century German philosophy. The warning for what you are in for is that Strathern opens with a Schopenhauer quote in which he dismisses Hegel as a charlatan.
Three stars for an entertaining deflation of a pompous and almost unreadable figure who had a massive impact on the course of European philosophy.
Three stars for an entertaining deflation of a pompous and almost unreadable figure who had a massive impact on the course of European philosophy.
Read
January 18, 2017A more serviceable gloss than Strathern's Nietzsche in 90 Minutes, this book provides the biographical basics, touches on the most basic elements of the Hegelian dialectic, and peppers both with unhelpful commentary re: prolixity &c. &c. Shitty though this may be, and certainly unworthy of its subject, it nonetheless delivered what it promised, viz. <90 minutes of information about Hegel, and some of it, as with the other Strahtern book, is even enjoyable. As my confreres were mulling over how best to change the toner cartridge, I was happy, imagining to myself Hegel at his window, having just finished The Phenomenology of Spirit, calling down to soldiers in the street to discover what had transpired in the battle, lately ended.
April 21, 2021
adı üstünde giriş bilgisi...
November 26, 2023
These tiny overviews are very helpful in deciding whether or not you'd like to read the writings of philosophers who already have you teetering on the fence. I am now fully convinced Hegel would mostly just give me a headache.
December 22, 2021
Does anyone understand Hegel?
Read
June 15, 2024lowkey roasted him…
February 10, 2025
It won’t help you understand Hegel, but it might help you combat insomnia.
October 31, 2024
I rarely rate books. I believe the rating system is inadequate, but in this case I felt obliged. 1 star for humor and biography. If you want more, seek elsewhere, perhaps a peer-reviewed interpretation and commentary.
March 29, 2020
This book gives you the bare basics on Hegel's philosophy, which may be all you need to know. From what this book says, Hegel is obviously a philosopher you will want to read about rather than actually reading his work; you'll see why when I quote him (as quoted in this book).
Yes!--that thing was meant to be only one complete statement, and it is taken from The Phenomenology of Mind, generally considered Hegel's masterwork. That was not merely how Hegel wrote, but how he thought and how he spoke in his lectures as a university professor. I wrote a "sentence" like that once, in a minor assignment in a political science course, and it greatly contributed to the paper earning an F. Hegel's works are full of such jargon, and therefore are notoriously difficult.
This book may be extremely short, but author Paul Strathern understands Hegel and what the problems with Hegel's philosophy were. Strathern credibly believes Hegel was, at heart, a melancholy mystic and poet with a brilliant but utterly prosaic mind. Strathern notes that Hegel has been compared to Plato for the extreme abstractness of his philosophy, and believes that comparison is fair. The poet theory is shared by other observers of Hegel: a section of the book contains quotes on Hegel by him and some by others, and includes this one by a Giovanni Papini:
The practical importance of Hegel's philosophy lies in who it influenced. Karl Marx was history's most important disciple of Hegel. He understood the philosophical method Hegel created--dialectic logic--and used it to invent a new philosophy of history that was completely different from Hegel's philosophy of history.
February 12, 2015
I have reread this book because I didn't remember it clearly enough and Hegel (not his philosophy, him) intrigues me. I had already picked up from my first reading that Hegel was probably a poet claiming to be a philosopher. This time I intuited something else.
Many philosophies probably show at least a little of their inventor's personality and background. For instance, John Locke's philosophy reflects the background of a middle-class Christian; and I learned from Paul Johnson that the true reason Karl Marx hated "capitalism" so much was because of constantly being in debt to usurious moneylenders. I suspect Hegel is an extreme case of the philosophy reflecting the personality (if not the life events) of the philosopher. It's speculation, but as I paid closer attention to Hegel himself on my second reading, I saw possible connections between Hegel's philosophy and himself. I have an idea that "The Phenomenology of Mind," unbeknownst to anyone but Hegel, meant the phenomenology of Hegel's mind. And Hegel stressed the importance of opposition in explaining his "dialectic logic" of thesis and antithesis producing a synthesis, which became a new thesis and repeated the process to produce some other synthesis. What Strathern doesn't offer a particular explanation for is why Hegel was so sure the dialectic was the true logic. It was a logic of conflict, and could it have been a mirror of internal conflict in Hegel? I don't see why it would be implausible, considering Hegel's seemingly unhappy childhood (his mother died early when fever struck the entire family) and frequent depression during adulthood. I would like to read a biography of Hegel, hopefully one as penetrating as this book.
I note that most or all of the reviewers who dislike this book are obviously Hegel fangeeks. I don't think they even try to understand this book. It's useful once one gets past Strathern's constant sarcastic jokes mocking Hegel and his philosophy.
Meanwhile, as mind itself is not an abstractly simple entity, but a system of processes, wherein it distinguishes itself into moments; but in the very act of distinguishing remains free and detached; and as mind articulates its body as a whole into a variety of functions; and designates one particular part of the body for only one function; so too one can represent to oneself the fluent state of its internal existence (its existence within itself) as something articulated into parts."
Yes!--that thing was meant to be only one complete statement, and it is taken from The Phenomenology of Mind, generally considered Hegel's masterwork. That was not merely how Hegel wrote, but how he thought and how he spoke in his lectures as a university professor. I wrote a "sentence" like that once, in a minor assignment in a political science course, and it greatly contributed to the paper earning an F. Hegel's works are full of such jargon, and therefore are notoriously difficult.
This book may be extremely short, but author Paul Strathern understands Hegel and what the problems with Hegel's philosophy were. Strathern credibly believes Hegel was, at heart, a melancholy mystic and poet with a brilliant but utterly prosaic mind. Strathern notes that Hegel has been compared to Plato for the extreme abstractness of his philosophy, and believes that comparison is fair. The poet theory is shared by other observers of Hegel: a section of the book contains quotes on Hegel by him and some by others, and includes this one by a Giovanni Papini:
There are pages of Hegel which have the same effect in the realm of thought as the sonnets of Mallarme have in the realm of poetry. They are vehicles of evocation and of vague sentimental nuances--nothing more. This does not belittle their value; it may even increase it. Yet verbal narcotics and hypnotic formulations should not be imposed on us as truths.
The practical importance of Hegel's philosophy lies in who it influenced. Karl Marx was history's most important disciple of Hegel. He understood the philosophical method Hegel created--dialectic logic--and used it to invent a new philosophy of history that was completely different from Hegel's philosophy of history.
February 12, 2015
I have reread this book because I didn't remember it clearly enough and Hegel (not his philosophy, him) intrigues me. I had already picked up from my first reading that Hegel was probably a poet claiming to be a philosopher. This time I intuited something else.
Many philosophies probably show at least a little of their inventor's personality and background. For instance, John Locke's philosophy reflects the background of a middle-class Christian; and I learned from Paul Johnson that the true reason Karl Marx hated "capitalism" so much was because of constantly being in debt to usurious moneylenders. I suspect Hegel is an extreme case of the philosophy reflecting the personality (if not the life events) of the philosopher. It's speculation, but as I paid closer attention to Hegel himself on my second reading, I saw possible connections between Hegel's philosophy and himself. I have an idea that "The Phenomenology of Mind," unbeknownst to anyone but Hegel, meant the phenomenology of Hegel's mind. And Hegel stressed the importance of opposition in explaining his "dialectic logic" of thesis and antithesis producing a synthesis, which became a new thesis and repeated the process to produce some other synthesis. What Strathern doesn't offer a particular explanation for is why Hegel was so sure the dialectic was the true logic. It was a logic of conflict, and could it have been a mirror of internal conflict in Hegel? I don't see why it would be implausible, considering Hegel's seemingly unhappy childhood (his mother died early when fever struck the entire family) and frequent depression during adulthood. I would like to read a biography of Hegel, hopefully one as penetrating as this book.
I note that most or all of the reviewers who dislike this book are obviously Hegel fangeeks. I don't think they even try to understand this book. It's useful once one gets past Strathern's constant sarcastic jokes mocking Hegel and his philosophy.
August 15, 2022
One would think that an introduction to one of the most important and impactful philosophers in human history, within a series of books on introductions to such philosophers, that the author would be somewhat sympathetic or at least tolerant of Hegel's ideas, or at the very least understand them!
You get no such thing from Strathern. Strathern relies on the "triadic" understanding of Hegel's dialectic: thesis-antithesis-synthesis. It is works like Strathern that have kept this absurd misconception alive. Hegel did not use such a formula, he was adverse to them. While this triad could be used as an introduction to dialectical logic of old, it is hardly useful for Hegel's. Hegel's dialectic is unique in that the product of contradiction contains elements of the old on a higher plane: the triad model is a pure linear progression rather than the spiral of history noted by Engels. Strathern needlessly describes the Hegelian dialectic as "neither logical nor scientific." Perhaps from a vulgar rationalist view, yes, but Hegel's dialectic was never meant to be understood in such a vein.
The only real value of this work is the biography of Hegel and events which were formative upon him, an explanation of The Phenomenology of the Mind, and excerpts from Hegel's works.
You get no such thing from Strathern. Strathern relies on the "triadic" understanding of Hegel's dialectic: thesis-antithesis-synthesis. It is works like Strathern that have kept this absurd misconception alive. Hegel did not use such a formula, he was adverse to them. While this triad could be used as an introduction to dialectical logic of old, it is hardly useful for Hegel's. Hegel's dialectic is unique in that the product of contradiction contains elements of the old on a higher plane: the triad model is a pure linear progression rather than the spiral of history noted by Engels. Strathern needlessly describes the Hegelian dialectic as "neither logical nor scientific." Perhaps from a vulgar rationalist view, yes, but Hegel's dialectic was never meant to be understood in such a vein.
The only real value of this work is the biography of Hegel and events which were formative upon him, an explanation of The Phenomenology of the Mind, and excerpts from Hegel's works.
June 27, 2012
While it becomes more and more clear that Strathern has a severe dislike of all things metaphysical, and an inability to cope with the Germanic love of system when it comes to philosophy (even Nietzsche wanted to tear down the old so that a new system could be put in place), he does have a pretty decent sense of humor.
I'm sure this book will offend Hegelians, and it does little to actually give voice to the Hegelian Dialectic, but it is a serviceable quick overview of the man and a rough sketch of his ideas. However, because Strathern has a need to blame Nazism and Stalinist Communism on someone, it never feels like he places the emphasis on the positive effects of the philosophy.
I'm sure this book will offend Hegelians, and it does little to actually give voice to the Hegelian Dialectic, but it is a serviceable quick overview of the man and a rough sketch of his ideas. However, because Strathern has a need to blame Nazism and Stalinist Communism on someone, it never feels like he places the emphasis on the positive effects of the philosophy.
October 16, 2019
Hegel
"Only me and God understood what I meant - now only God."
”Only one man understands me, and even he does not.” -Hegel
Some say he might have been too optimistic in saying that.
--- This is not a review ---
(Just writing down some key points in order to remember better)
Hegel:
Small part of us can be found in history. We can find something very valuable in history that we have lost now.
Progress in never linear.
Learn from the ideas you dislike.
Progress is messy: 3 moves: Dialektik. We have to find balance in extremes. Synteesi!
Art has purpose. If we just know ideas they are cold, but with art we can remember with more imagination.
"Only me and God understood what I meant - now only God."
”Only one man understands me, and even he does not.” -Hegel
Some say he might have been too optimistic in saying that.
--- This is not a review ---
(Just writing down some key points in order to remember better)
Hegel:
Small part of us can be found in history. We can find something very valuable in history that we have lost now.
Progress in never linear.
Learn from the ideas you dislike.
Progress is messy: 3 moves: Dialektik. We have to find balance in extremes. Synteesi!
Art has purpose. If we just know ideas they are cold, but with art we can remember with more imagination.
October 16, 2011
This is the first ever book about Hegel I've read, I avoid learning about Hegel because he seems so difficult. This book makes a good biographical sketch of Hegel's works, in addition, it doesn't go so heavy on Hegel's ideas, except a few basics, which considering the kind of level of readership is a very appropriate decisions which I respect.
The one thing I really liked about this book was that Strathern doesn't let Hegel get away with nonsense. The author treats Hegel without much seriousness and with deserved rigour and criticism.
The one thing I really liked about this book was that Strathern doesn't let Hegel get away with nonsense. The author treats Hegel without much seriousness and with deserved rigour and criticism.
March 24, 2024
Schopenhauer quote on GWFH: “The height of audacity in serving up pure nonsense, in stringing together senseless and extravagant mazes of words such as had previously been known only in madhouses, was finally reached in Hegel, and became the instrument of the most bare-faced general mystification that has ever taken place with the result which will appear fabulous to posterity and will remain as a monument to German stupidity”
Pretty much says it all. Just utter nonsense
Pretty much says it all. Just utter nonsense
February 28, 2014
You'll know more about Hegel's sex life than his philosophy after reading this, but that's cool. I am of the Schopenhauer school and find Hegel's esotericism awkward at best. The only reason to still read Hegel (or about Hegel at least) is to understand Marx, yet Marx's use of the term dialectic is so innovative that one might as well skip Phenomenology of Mind and go straight to Das Kapital.
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