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Modern era · 1770–1831
G. W. F. Hegel
The philosopher of Spirit
Absolute idealism
Biography
He studied theology at Tübingen with Hölderlin and Schelling. He saw Napoleon at Jena ("the world spirit on horseback"). As professor in Berlin he became Germany's most influential philosopher.
Worldview
The real is rational and the rational is real. The truth is the whole, which unfolds dialectically through contradiction and sublation (Aufhebung). History is the progress of the consciousness of freedom; Spirit realises itself in the State, art, religion and philosophy.
Core positions
- The true is the whole
- The real is rational
- History is the progress of freedom
- The owl of Minerva flies at dusk
Major works
- Phenomenology of Spirit
- Science of Logic
- Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences
- Elements of the Philosophy of Right
Debate style
Dialectical and systematic: shows how every one-sided position contains its own negation and is overcome.
Absorbs others' theses as "moments" of a higher truth; speaks of historicity and mediation.
Vocabulary
SpiritdialecticAufhebungmediationmaster and slaveworld historythe Absolute
Known disagreements
- Søren Kierkegaard — The system forgets the single individual
- Karl Marx — Marx turns the dialectic materialist
- Arthur Schopenhauer — Schopenhauer considers him a charlatan