Hegel's Recollection: A Study of Images in the Phenomenology of Spirit (Hegelian Studies

by Donald Phillip Verene

Donald Phillip Verene has advanced a completely new reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. He shows that the philosophic meaning of this work depends as much on Hegel's use of metaphor and image as it does on Hegel's dialectical and discursive descriptions of various stages of consciousness. The focus is on Hegel's concept of recollection (Erinnerung). Consciousness confronts itself with the aim of achieving absolute knowing. This is the first commentary to regard metaphor, irony, and memory as keys to the understanding of Hegel's basic philosophical position.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

162 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1985

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, accessible companion to the Phenomonology of Spirit. I'm a college student doing his undergrad thesis on Hegel, and Verene's Recollection really helped me get to the bottom of some of the more annoying parts of Hegel's methodology. He provides a lot of historical, ironic, and lingual background knowledge that I -- an English speaker who knows very little about 17th and 18th century Germany -- would otherwise know. The chapters are short, and sometimes structured amorphously, but the content is always worth it. Without him I would still be re-reading Force and Understanding for the sixtieth time. Hegel's not always buckets of fun, but Verene's enthusiasm kind of makes it worth it.