Hegel(1770 — 1831)
Hegel
royaume de Prusse
8 min read
German philosopher (1770–1831), Hegel is one of the greatest thinkers of German Idealism. He developed a dialectical method and an influential philosophy of history, most notably set out in the Phenomenology of Spirit.
Frequently asked questions
Famous Quotes
« What is rational is real, and what is real is rational »
Key Facts
- 1807: Publication of the Phenomenology of Spirit, a foundational work
- 1816–1817: Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences, a synthesis of his thought
- Development of the dialectical method (thesis, antithesis, synthesis)
- Elaboration of a philosophy of history as the progress of freedom
- 1818: Professor at the University of Berlin, major influence in Germany
Works & Achievements
Hegel's first major work, it traces the journey of human consciousness from sensory perception to absolute knowledge. It is one of the founding texts of modern philosophy, influencing Marx, Sartre, and many thinkers of the 20th century.
A systematic exposition of dialectical logic in three volumes, comprising the doctrines of Being, Essence, and the Concept. This work constitutes the metaphysical core of the Hegelian system.
A synthesis of the Hegelian system in three parts: logic, philosophy of nature, and philosophy of Spirit. Conceived as a textbook for his lectures, it offers the most complete and structured overview of Hegel's philosophy.
A treatise on political philosophy setting out the Hegelian theory of the family, civil society, and the State. This work profoundly influenced political thought in the 19th and 20th centuries, notably through its analysis of the role of the rational State.
A collection of lectures published after Hegel's death, presenting his vision of universal history as the unfolding of Reason. This text is one of the most accessible introductions to Hegelian thought.
Lectures on the philosophy of art, reconstructing the Hegelian theory of beauty and art as the sensible expression of the absolute Idea. These lectures established philosophical aesthetics as an academic discipline.
Anecdotes
Hegel was so absorbed in writing his Phenomenology of Spirit that he finished the manuscript on the night before the Battle of Jena in October 1806, while Napoleon's cannons thundered at the city's gates. He wrote to his friend Niethammer that he had seen 'the World Spirit on horseback' upon catching a glimpse of Napoleon riding through the city.
Hegel was a professor notorious for the obscurity of his lectures at the University of Berlin. His students took frantic notes but often admitted they only understood the material after hours of re-reading. It is reported that he would sometimes stop mid-sentence, remain silent for several minutes, then resume his argument as if nothing had happened.
As a young student at the Tübingen Stift, Hegel shared his room with the poet Hölderlin and the philosopher Schelling. The three young men, enthusiastic about the French Revolution, are said to have planted a 'liberty tree' together in a nearby meadow as a gesture of solidarity with the Parisian revolutionaries, around 1793.
Hegel was appointed rector of the Nuremberg Gymnasium in 1808. He proved to be a rigorous administrator, deeply concerned with the formation of young people, personally writing annual speeches to students urging them toward intellectual effort and moral discipline, convinced that education was the key to the progress of the Spirit.
At his death in 1831, most likely from cholera ravaging Berlin, Hegel left behind a body of work so dense that his disciples immediately split into two camps: the conservative 'Old Hegelians' and the progressive 'Young Hegelians', among whom was a certain Karl Marx.
Primary Sources
The true is the whole. But the whole is only the essence completing itself through its development. Of the Absolute it must be said that it is essentially a result.
What is rational is real, and what is real is rational.
The only thought which philosophy brings with it is the simple idea of Reason: Reason governs the world, and consequently world history has unfolded rationally.
I saw the Emperor – this world soul – ride out of the city to go on reconnaissance. It is indeed a wonderful sensation to see such an individual who, concentrated here at a single point, seated on a horse, reaches out over the world and dominates it.
Philosophy may be provisionally defined as the thinking study of things. It stands in contrast to a non-thinking apprehension of them — that is, to a sensory and representational grasp of those things.
Key Places
Hegel's birthplace, then the capital of a German imperial duchy. It was in this Swabian Protestant bourgeois environment that he received his early education and developed his relationship with Lutheran religion.
Protestant seminary where Hegel studied theology and philosophy from 1788 to 1793. It was there that he forged his deep friendship with Hölderlin and Schelling, forming one of the most intellectually fertile trios in the history of philosophy.
Hegel taught here from 1801 to 1807 and wrote the Phenomenology of Spirit. The city was also the site of the Napoleonic battle that fascinated the philosopher and shaped his conception of history.
Secondary school of which Hegel was headmaster from 1808 to 1816. There he developed a pedagogy grounded in rigor and effort, and wrote part of the Science of Logic.
Institution founded in 1810 by Wilhelm von Humboldt where Hegel was appointed to the chair of philosophy in 1818. He achieved renown there, attracting students from across Europe until his death in 1831.
Liens externes & ressources
Références
Œuvres
Phénoménologie de l'Esprit
1807
Science de la Logique
1812-1816
Encyclopédie des sciences philosophiques
1817
Principes de la philosophie du droit
1821
Leçons sur la philosophie de l'histoire
1837 (posthume)
Leçons sur l'esthétique
1835 (posthume)
