Thinker · TH-0172
G. W. F. Hegel
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, the most influential figure of German Idealism, who taught at Jena, Heidelberg and finally Berlin. He…
Also known as Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
1770 – 1831 · Stuttgart; Tübingen; Jena; Nuremberg; Heidelberg; Berlin
Traditions: Modern European
Schools: German Idealism
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, the most influential figure of German Idealism, who taught at Jena, Heidelberg and finally Berlin. He held that reality is the self-development of spirit and that history is the progress of the consciousness of freedom. In his social philosophy selfhood is achieved through mutual recognition rather than given prior to society, and the modern state is presented as the realisation of freedom in rational institutions. His work shaped Marxism, existentialism and critical theory.
Key ideas
- Self-consciousness is achieved through mutual recognition, as the master–slave dialectic dramatises.
- History is the development of the consciousness of freedom.
- Ethical life (Sittlichkeit) is realised in family, civil society and the state, which together give freedom concrete form.
- Thought develops dialectically, with each position's internal tensions driving it toward a richer one.
Major works
- Phenomenology of Spirit (Phänomenologie des Geistes, 1807)
- Science of Logic (Wissenschaft der Logik, 1812–1816)
- Elements of the Philosophy of Right (Grundlinien der Philosophie des Rechts, 1820)
- Lectures on the Philosophy of History (published posthumously, 1837)
In the conversation
- Question What does “the right side of history” actually assume about history?
- Question Was Kant an idealist in the same sense as Berkeley?
- Discussion Smith’s butcher and Smith’s impartial spectator: is there really an ‘Adam Smith problem’?
- Discussion A delusion can be more coherent than my own beliefs. What does that do to coherentism?
- Reading group Reading group: Rousseau’s Social Contract in four weeks, in French and English
- Debate Searle’s “X counts as Y in C” leaves out the power that makes people accept it
- Debate An infinite chain of reasons is not a defect: the case for infinitism deserves more than a smirk
On the map
The questions in The Coordinates of Thought where G. W. F. Hegel takes a place.
- 6.4 Political Philosophy When is political power legitimate, and what may it rightly do?
- 6.6 Philosophy of History Is history going anywhere?
- 6.7 Social Ontology What makes social facts and entities real, and how do they depend on individuals?