The first anthology explicitly dedicated to Hegel's linguistic thought, Hegel and Language presents various facets of a new wave of Hegel scholarship. The chapters are organized around themes that include the possibility of systematic philosophy, truth and objectivity, and the relation of Hegel's thought to analytic and postmodern approaches to language. While there is considerable diversity among the various approaches to and assessments of Hegel's linguistic thought, the volume as a whole demonstrates that not only was language central for Hegel, but also that his linguistic thought still has much to offer contemporary philosophy. The book also includes an extensive introductory survey of the linguistic thought of the entire German Idealist movement and the contemporary issues that emerged from it.
The collective focus of the essays here presented consists of the attempt to overcome the deadlock between metaphysical and non- (or anti-) metaphysical Hegel interpretations. There is no doubt that Hegel rejects traditional and influential forms of metaphysical thought. There is also no doubt that he grounds his philosophical system on a metaphysical theory of thought and reality. The question asked by the contributors in this volume is therefore: what kind of metaphysics does Hegel reject, and what kind does he embrace? Some of the papers address the issue in general and comprehensive terms, but from different, even opposite perspectives: Hegel's claim of a ‘unity’ of logic and metaphysics; his potentially deflationary understanding of metaphysics; his overt metaphysical commitments; his subject-less notion of logical thought; and his criticism of Kant's critique of metaphysics. Other contributors discuss the same topics in view of very specific subject-matter in Hegel's corpus, to wit: the philosophy of self-consciousness; practical philosophy; teleology and holism; a particular brand of naturalism; language's relation to thought; 'true' and ‘spurious’ infinity as pivotal in philosophic thinking; and Hegel's conception of human agency and action.
This edition of a recently discovered manuscript provides the first full look at Hegel's Philosophy of Subjective Spirit. The lectures of 1827 go far beyond Hegel's previously published Encyclopedia outline, and provide a new introduction to the Philosophy of Spirit. Robert Williams's translation will stimulate interest in a neglected area in Hegel scholarship, but one to which Hegel himself attached special importance and significance.
The philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel is certainly one of the richest and most complex philosophical endeavours in the history of Western thought. Hegelian scholars have either tried to make sense of its individual parts through detailed analyses, or to offer a comprehensive interpretation of the system as a whole. Attempts to combine these two approaches have often appealed to some key-concepts, such as historicity, recognition, dialectic, and Aufhebung, or to a combination of these concepts, in order to develop consistent interpretations of the different components of the system. This book lays the foundation for a similar interpretive project by focusing on Hegel’s concept of recollection (Erinnerung). This collection of essays provides a detailed examination of the role played by recollection within the different spheres of the system, while at the same time acknowledging the specific character of its different instances. This undertaking is guided by the idea that the relationship between the different instances examined here constitutes a privileged key to the interpretation of Hegel’s philosophy and allows a deeper understanding of some of its essential speculative moments.
This volume articulates and develops new research questions and original insights regarding the philosophical dialogue between Hegel’s philosophy, his heritage, and contemporary phenomenology, including, among others, Husserl, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, and Ricoeur. The collection discusses methodological questions concerning the relevance of Hegel’s philosophy for contemporary phenomenology, addressing core issues revolving around the key concepts of history, being, science, subjectivity, and dialectic. The volume fills a gap in historiography, expanding the knowledge of the impact of Hegel's philosophy on contemporary philosophy and raising new questions on the transformation of transcendental philosophy in post-Kantian philosophy. The contributions gathered in this volume shed new light on issues related to the problem of scientific method in philosophy, on the philosophy of history, as well as on the dimension of subjectivity. By providing critical insights into Hegel’s philosophy and contemporary phenomenology, the book opens up new research perspectives recommended to philosophers and scholars of different traditions, especially classical German philosophy, phenomenology, and history of Western philosophy.
This volume approaches the study of Hegel's History of Philosophy from a variety of angles, while centering on Hegel's Berlin "Lectures on the History of Philosophy" (1819–1831), which were given to students and later published. The lectures address most fundamentally what philosophy is—the philosophy of philosophy, so to speak. The contributors treat many significant and topical issues, including: discussions of Hegel's overall idea of a history of philosophy; his treatment of various philosophers and philosophical views from the historical tradition; and the role of Hegel's own philosophical system as a culmination in the development of philosophy historically. This unique collection provides incisive and provocative analyses on an area of study that until now has not garnered as much attention as it deserves.
In this study of Hegel's philosophy, Brinkmann undertakes to defend Hegel's claim to objective knowledge by bringing out the transcendental strategy underlying Hegel's argument in the Phenomenology of Spirit and the Logic. Hegel's metaphysical commitments are shown to become moot through this transcendental reading. Starting with a survey of current debates about the possibility of objective knowledge, the book next turns to the original formulation of the transcendental argument in favor of a priori knowledge in Kant's First Critique. Through a close reading of Kant's Transcendental Deduction and Hegel's critique of it, Brinkmann tries to show that Hegel develops an immanent critique of Kant's position that informs his reformulation of the transcendental project in the Introduction to the Phenomenology of Spirit and the formulation of the position of 'objective thought' in the Science of Logic and the Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences. Brinkmann takes the reader through the strategic junctures of the argument of the Phenomenology that establishes the position of objective thinking with which the Logic begins. A critical examination of the Introduction to the Lectures on the History of Philosophy shows that Hegel's metaphysical doctrine of the self-externalization of spirit need not compromise the ontological project of the Logic and thus does not burden the position of objective thought with pre-critical metaphysical claims. Brinkmann's book is a remarkable achievement. He has given us what may be the definitive version of the transcendental, categorial interpretation of Hegel. He does this in a clear approachable style punctuated with a dry wit, and he fearlessly takes on the arguments and texts that are the most problematic for this interpretation. Throughout the book, he situates Hegel firmly in his own context and that of contemporary discussion." -Terry P. Pinkard, University Professor, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C, USA "Klaus Brinkmann’s important Hegel study reads the Phenomenology and the Logic as aspects of a single sustained effort, in turning from categories to concepts, to carry Kant’s Copernican turn beyond the critical philosophy in what constitutes a major challenge to contemporary Cartesianism." - Tom Rockmore, McAnulty College Distinguished Professor, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA "In this compelling reconstruction of the theme of objective thought, Klaus Brinkmann takes the reader through Hegel’s dialectic with exceptional philosophical acumen.... Many aspects of this book are striking: the complete mastery of the central tenets of Kant’s and Hegel’s philosophy, the admirable clarity in treating obscure texts and very difficult problems, and how Brinkmann uses his expertise for a discussion of the problems of truth, objectivity and normativity relevant to the contemporary philosophical debate. This will prove to be a very important book, one that every serious student of Kant and Hegel will have to read." - Alfredo Ferrarin, Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
