Logic and Existence

by Jean Hyppolite

This first English translation illuminates Hegelianism's most obscure dialectical the relation between the phenomenology and the logic. This book is essential for understanding the development of French thought in this century.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Logic

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1952

About the author

Jean Hyppolite was a French philosopher known for championing the work of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and other German philosophers, and educating some of France's most prominent post-war thinkers. His major works include Genesis and Structure of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit and Studies on Marx and Hegel.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was responsible for bringing Hegel to the French philosophical community, influencing Deleuze, Derrida and Foucault.

It is a book on the relation of Hegel's phenomenology with his Logic, a notoriously obscure and dense area. He argues against humanistic interpretations of Hegel, that absolute Knowledge is not a human reflection, but a reflection of the Absolute in man.

Hyppolite writes on Hegelian philosophy of language, logic and the categories of the Absolute. He also discusses Feuerbach and Marx in the conclusion to the work.

Dense, although illuminating in its explication of extremely difficult Hegelian concepts.

A useful and rewarding read.

[Corbin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not much more helpful than reading Hegel's Lesser Logic. Hyppolite repeats Hegelian formulations in a way that seems to present an argument, but the inferences are neither intuitive nor demonstrated. Often I found myself asking, "But why?" If you like Hegel's dialectical logic, then this will seem like a very concise summary; if you find his logic impenetrable or counterintuitive, Hyppolite does little to help one understand.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bold, if at times inscrutable, defense of Hegel's Science of Logic against Kojeve's "humanistic" interpretation of Hegel that over-emphasized the Phenomenology of Spirit. Hyppolite seems blissfully unaware that his privileging of Sense (Meaning) as taking place in Logos (Language) it itself a form of humanism. I expect that Derrida's critique of (phal)logocentrism is a reaction to this attempt to privilege Language against Nature, Sense against Non-Sense (with the phallo- coming from Lacan's Freudian version of logocentrism).

Concludes with a critique of the humanistic elements in Marx's 1844 manuscripts, which had only been published in German in 1933 - it seems plausible to me that this is one of the first interpretations of these manuscripts in French, setting the stage for Althusser's rejection of early Marx's humanism.

[amgds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great secondary text on Hegel although Hyppolite often rushes ahead of himself and fails to argue for his points (although it might be assumed that the audience has already read Structure and Genesis).

The 'anti-humanist' reading of Hegel is a fascinating notion. Would be of great historical interest to compare this to the subsequent development of 'anti-humanist' structuralism in France. From my limited understanding of Negarestani's work I can hear echoes of Hyppolite in his interpretation of Hegel through the notion 'impersonal sapience.'

Lost a star for being too dense (there is no excuse for poorly written secondary texts on German Idealism any more) but I read this in English so it might be partly the translator's fault.

[Caroline Loftus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty insightful and influential book about Hegel. Its style and organization are atrocious sometimes though….

[William Zeng · Rating 3 out of 5]

that was a lot of hegel