Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

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Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
Born	27 August 1770 Stuttgart, Württemberg, Holy Roman Empire
Died	14 November 1831 (aged 61) Berlin, Prussia
Alma mater	University of Jena
School tradition	Hegelianism
Nationality	German
Language	German

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German idealist philosopher, whose method (referred to as the "dialectical" method, or simply the Hegelian method) has inspired much of Marxist philosophy.

Hegel was an objective idealist, his philosophy was conditioned by his defense of the Prussian state (see Hegel's 'Philosophy of Right'). According to him, the primary principle of reality is the absolute Idea, which first reveals itself in nature and then becomes spirit and knowledge. This becoming of the Idea comprises a logical-dialectical development of which real history is but the expression. Hence, according to Hegel, Geist (the Spirit or Idea) in it's teleological procession towards absolute knowing, realizes itself through the totality of existence (religion, culture, philosophy, institutions and every other part of the whole) thus sublating (Aufheben - To preserve, cancel and elevate simultaneously) reality as it goes through this dialectical process and through this, it transforms existence into a higher stage of organization, utilizing matter as only a mode of realization.

As Feuerbach demonstrated, this Idea is nothing but the Christian God in an abstract and logical wrapping. Marx and Engels turned Hegel’s dialectics right side up and “set it back on its feet” by extracting the rational kernel from the mystical shell, a fundamental repositioning of the central body of the dialectic and it's expression through that central body, went from the reconciliation of Geist in it's process of absolute knowing to the contradiction and struggle with the dialectical progression of the modes of production. Effectively grounding contradiction within the material realities of human society rather than the historically conditioned in realization but transcendental in being, Geist.

Method

In discussing Hegel's method it has become common to refer to the whole thing as "dialectical". Hegel referred to his philosophy as speculative. He outlined his method of logic in the work, the Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences, stating:

Logical doctrine has three sides: [a] the Abstract side, or that of understanding; [b] the Dialectical, or that of negative reason; [c] the Speculative, or that of positive reason.

The first of these three moments is that of the understanding, by which he means the practice of understanding an idea on its own terms rather than in distinction from other ideas. Of the second moment, the dialectical, he states that ideas "supersede themselves, and pass into their opposites". In other words, once something reaches its fullest development in its own terms it becomes the same as the development of its opposite. Life and death in abstract terms are totally opposite, but when developed fully become two necessary parts of a greater whole. The final moment, the speculative, unites the two opposing ideas from the dialectical stage into a single new idea.

Since Hegel saw all of reality as different parts of an interconnected whole, he also saw this process applying to more than just logical analysis. He saw history, society, and even nature as evolving through a dialectical process of development and transformation.

Political views

Hegel condemned the mass executions of peasants in England for minor property crimes during the early nineteenth century. He acknowledged that the propertied ruling class was responsible for such severe laws and opposed equating homicide with theft.

Works

1. System of Science
   1. Part I: Phenomenology of Spirit
   2. Part II: Science of Logic
2. Elements of the Philosophy of Right

Lectures

1. Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences (Hegel's lecture textbook)
2. Lecture notes compiled by students
   1. Lectures on the History of Philosophy
   2. Lectures on the Philosophy of History
   3. Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion
   4. Lectures on Aesthetics