Hegel – Philosophy Of History

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Life

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(1) Out of school, he won a scholarship to Tübingen, where he became friends with another philosopher––Friederich Schelling. (Schelling gained national reputation before Hegel, but when Hegel's reputation eclipsed that of Schelliing, he claimed that Hegel imputed or appropriated his ideas.

(2) After completing his education, Hegel accepted a tutoring position for one the wealthy Swiss families. During that period, he drafted many unpublished essays on philosophy and religion, in which he compared Jesus with Socrates, finding that the latter disseminated superior ethics.

(a) In those essays, Hegel argued that religion is a barrier to "restoring man to a state of harmony," for it makes humans subordinate their powers to an external authority.

(3) In 1799, he joined Schelling at the University of Jena – he published the "Phenomenology of the Mind" in 1807, after the French occupation of Prussia.

(4) In 1811 – he published the "Science of Logic."

(5) In 1816 – he was hired as a philosophy professor at the University of Heidleberg, where he wrote the Encyclopedia of Philosophic Sciences.

(6) In 1818 – He was hired by the Prussian Minister of Education to be the chair of the department of philosophy at the University of Berlin, where he remained until 1831.

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Books (1) – Philosophy of history (A)

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General Notes

(2) What is the Philosophy of History – One may think about it as a general outline of world history, from the early civilization of India, China, and Persia, to the Ancient Greeks and Roman times, and then tracing European history from the Middle Ages, to Reformation, Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. (NOTE – although the modern view does not ascribe history any meaning, the Hegelian view need not be viewed only from a religious or mystical senes; it can be viewed from the simple notion that "reflection on the past enables us to discern the direction history is taking, and the destination it will ultimately reach.)

(3) Thesis – in the introduction, Hegel lays out his fundamental premises, upon which his entire philosophy may be predicated, namely that, "the history of the world is none other progress of the consciousness of freedom."

(4) Narration –

(a) Hegel begins his account by describing the Oriental World – i.e., that of China, India, and Persia. He believes that both China and India fell out of world history, and that world history begins with Persia, where the solely the "ruler" is a free individual.

(b) Hegel analyses the oriental subjects as having no "will" of their own––i.e., individual conscience is lacking, for law and morality are matters of external regulation. It is not that the subjects are cognizant of their "will," and they actively suppress it as matter of prudence. Rather, the oriental subjects lack the possibility of formulating their own moral judgments about what is right or wrong, because their opinions about moral matters come from the outside––just like any other fact about the world, such as the existence of a mountain. (Perhaps, here Hegel is alluding to the notion that the subjects lack any facility of skepticism, because of their lack sense of conscience.)

EX: the Chinese state is organized on the principle of the family. Government is based on the paternal management of the emperor, and all others see themselves as children of the state.

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Books (1) – Philosophy of history (B)

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(4) Narration –

(c) Persia is different from China and India (where nature, rather than the emperor or ruler, is despot). For the rule in Persia was based on an intellectual or spiritual principle of universal applicability. Such type of rule signifies the beginning of the conscienceless of freedom, which Hegel intended to trace.

(d) Greek World – the battle of Salamis, where the Greeks defeated the Persian, signified the tide of world history transitioned from the oriental despot to the Greek city-states, which recognized "free individuality."

Yet, Hegel did not consider the Greeks as having freedom of consciousness for two reasons: (1) slavery, which signifies, contrary to the orient where only the ruler was free, that only some individuals acquired freedom; (2) the Greeks did not have freedom of conscience, because, while in the orient the subject obey the moral code imposed from above, the Greek obedience (or subjugation of their will) came intrinsically––mainly because Greeks lived for their city-states or country. Put differently, the Greeks habitually thought of themselves as so indissolubly linked to their own particular city-state that they did not distinguish their own interest and the interest of the community in which they lived. Genuinely free use their capacity to reason to make decisions, for reason lifts people above the chance events of the natural world and enables them to reflect critically the forces that influence their decisions.

Ex: Hegel adduces examples of Greek practice and tradition that reinforces the notions of free inquiry, including Apollo's command: "Man, know thyself."

Hegel also provides the example of Socrates as a person who challenged customary morality, utilizing reason to challenge morality––Socrates, when discussing the concept of justice, which they Greeks defined as giving one what one is owed, gives the example of man who have his friend his weapon; thereafter, the man became deranged; Socrates asks, should the friend return the weapon to the deranged man, pursuant to the concept of justice?

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Books (1) – Philosophy of history (C)

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(4) Narration –

(e) Roman World – Because Rome was a cacophony of various people, severe discipline was required; hence the use of force to uphold the Empire––this Roman attitude harkens back to the oriental despotism. But the course of world history never goes backwards, because the gains made in the previous epoch are never lost entirely.

Thus, the idea of individuality––of the private capacity for judgment––which was born in Greece, was not lost; rather Romans recognized the freedom of the individual in such a way that the Persian never could––i.e., Romans acquired a legal system founded upon a political constitution that recognizes individual freedom as a fundamental right, even if only in the formal sense, which Hegel calls "abstract freedom of the individual." (This abstract freedom is the contra of "concrete individuality," which is the product of real freedom, allowing individual to develop a diversity of ideas.)

NOTE – because of the sheer, domineering force of the Roman state, freedom retreated and took refuge in philosophy; hence the emergence of Stoicism, Epicureanism, and Skepticism.

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Books (2)

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Philosophy of right

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Books (3) –

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Phenomenology of the mind

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Book (4)

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Science of Logic