Hegelianism

Hegelianism
Basic Information
Aliases	Absolute Idealism Dialectic Hegelianism German Dialectics Hegelian Philosophy Pan-Logism Pseudophilosophy Pseudophilosophy
Alignments	Aesthetics   Epistemology  Ethics History Logic  Mainstream   Metaphilosophy   Metaphysics  Politics  Theology
Greatest achievement	Dialectical Method
Collectives	Continental   European Philosophy   Romanticism
Philosophical Influences
Influenced by	Anti-Confucianism Aristotelianism Behmenism Coherentism Conceptualism Dialectics Diderotianism Fichtean Idealism German Romanticism Goetheanism Hamannism Heraclitianism Herderism Historical Determinism Kantianism Lutheranism Mind-body Dualism Monism Naturphilosophie Neoplatonism Objective Idealism Pantheism Platonism Rationalism Rousseauism Schellingianism (Early on) Smithianism Socratism Spinozism Taoism Teleology
Influenced	Bakuninism Crocean Idealism Gentilianism Heideggerianism Orthodox Marxism Proudhonism Sartrean Existentialism Stirnerism Žižekianism
Preceded	Fichtean Idealism
Succeeded	Old Hegelianism Young Hegelianism
Philosophical Information
Year	1820s
Region of origin	Germany
Foundation	George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), Prussia
Notable Theorists	Germany George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), Prussia Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (1797-1856), Germany Max Stirner (1806-1856), Germany Karl Marx (1818-1883), Germany Karl Jaspers (1883-1969), Germany Martin heidegger (1889-1976), Germany Europe Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865), France Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876), Russia Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944), Italy Alexandre Kojève (1902-1968), France
Notable ideas	Absolute Idealism Dialectical Method Geist Historical Dialectic Master-slave dialectic Objective spirit Philosophy of right Sittlichkeit The Phenomenology of spirit The State as the "March of God in the world"
Variations
Sub-Philosophies	Absolute Idealism wip Historicism Empiricism Irrationalism Universalism
Schools of Thought	Post-Hegelianism Classical Anarchism (Some) Neo-Marxism Stirnerism
Regional Variants	Hegelian Marxism Neo-Marxism Orthodox Marxism Old Hegelianism Conservative Liberalism Lutheranism Romanticism Young Hegelianism Anti-Conservatism Anti-Monarchism Anti-Reactionaryism Atheism Humanism Jacobinism Liberalism (Some) Materialism Republicanism (Some) Rationalism
Character Information
Likes	Dialectics Reason
Dislikes	Schopenhauer Schelling China ＆ Confucianism Africa

Hegelianism is an ideology based on the 19th century philosopher G. W. F. Hegel. Hegel is argued to be one of the most influential philosophers of German Idealism.

Philosophical Beliefs

Metaphysics

Hegel claimed that everything that exists is in the process of becoming something else. He believed history itself was in the process of change, through a dialectical process of opposing ideas, through which would emerge the new synthesis of a single idea, making the old binary distinction irreverent. He thought this process would continue until finally, we arrive at the point when all subjects would realize that only one thing exists, the mind itself.

Hegel was an idealist, meaning he thought that everything that exists is a non-physical entity.

Hegelian Dialectic

In Part I of his Encyclopaedia of Philosophical Sciences, also known as the Encyclopaedia Logic, Hegel presents his dialectical method. According to Hegel, logic has three moments or sides: understanding, dialectical, and speculative. The understanding is the moment of fixity where concepts have stable definitions. The dialectical moment is one of instability and self-sublation, where concepts pass into their opposites. The speculative moment grasps the unity of the first two moments and produces a more comprehensive and universal concept. Hegel's dialectics differ from Plato's arbitrary dialectics in several ways. The movement to new determinations in Hegel's dialectics is driven by the nature of earlier determinations, not by the introduction of new ideas. The transition to new determinations grows out of the process itself and is not dependent on external factors. Later determinations both replace and preserve earlier determinations, and they determine and surpass the limits of the earlier determinations. The dialectical process leads to increasingly comprehensive and universal concepts, ultimately driving towards the Absolute, the all-encompassing concept or form. The Absolute represents the highest level of universality and completes the dialectical process. When taken together, the Absolute concepts for different subject matters form Hegel's entire philosophical system, which is characterized as a "circle of circles." Hegel considers his dialectical method to be truly scientific because it is driven by the subject matter itself and exhibits coherence and necessity.

Consciousness

Hegel's philosophical perspective focuses on the stages of consciousness development. He begins with sense-certainty, which is limited because it provides only basic factual information without deeper insights. Perception is introduced as an active form of consciousness that recognizes the interconnectedness and relational nature of objects. However, the process of negation erodes specific characteristics, leading to doubt and a return to sense-certainty. Understanding is presented as the most complete form of consciousness, merging sense-certainty and perception. Hegel introduces the concept of force, which operates both in the observable world and as a pure notion. Understanding seeks to uncover the underlying principles and laws governing the actions and reactions of forces. Hegel discusses the existence of two realms, one governed by laws and another where phenomena remain unexplained. He acknowledges that earlier stages of consciousness may not have been aware of these perspectives, while he and his readers understand them as observers.

Self-Consciousness

Self-consciousness arises when the mind recognizes its own thinking and existence in relation to an external world. It seeks validation and self-assertion by acknowledging the same self-consciousness in others, leading to the emergence of collective human consciousness or spirit. Hegel emphasizes that true understanding comes from collective efforts rather than isolated individuals. The process involves mutual recognition and gradual development. The paradox of dominance and servitude reveals that the servant achieves true self-consciousness through discipline and obedience, while the lord depends on recognition but denies equality. Stoicism and skepticism are explored as stages of development, with skepticism questioning true knowledge but ultimately being incoherent. The Unhappy Consciousness seeks unity with the unchangeable through surrender and mediation, leading to the next phase of reason. Hegel incorporates Christian and philosophical concepts to discuss the ascent of human consciousness, highlighting its broader relevance beyond Christianity.

Reason

Reason, for Hegel, involves actively shaping our perception of reality by discerning essential qualities and implicit laws. Observational reason, however, falls short in providing a comprehensive understanding of the world. Hegel introduces rational self-consciousness, combining reason with self-awareness in a social context. True fulfillment and individuality, he argues, are achieved when individuals align themselves with the existing social order. Individuality and self-interest play a role in human action, which exposes intentions and reveals true character. Hegel sees work as a moral imperative for self-realization and emphasizes reason operating within collective consciousness and societal laws.

Spirit

Spirit, in Hegel's view, is the collective consciousness and morality that connects all humans. The ethical order, represented by societal laws and norms, embodies the true spirit and reflects both human and divine aspects. The family represents the natural ethical community, while the government embodies the implementation of human law. Human actions often create a conflict between divine and human law, leading to a society characterized by individualism and the erosion of ethical customs. Hegel also discusses the Enlightenment and its impact on the division between culture and faith, with one pole emphasizing divine law and the other emphasizing human utilitarianism.

Religion

In his exploration of the progress of spirit, Hegel identifies the concept of the "absolute" or divine being. He suggests that the absolute is fully revealed in the current stage of development. Hegel traces the previous appearances of the absolute, highlighting how religion plays a crucial role in achieving self-consciousness. Religion evolves through stages such as natural religion, perceiving spirituality in nature, and the stage of art, where religion becomes an expression of ethics detached from nature. Hegel focuses on the development of religion as art, particularly referencing ancient Greek religions. He discusses the transition from abstract statues to the humanization of gods in epics. Hegel introduces the idea of revealed religion, exemplified by Christianity, where God becomes incarnate. He emphasizes the significance of God's presence in the physical world and the shared experience of Christ's existence. Hegel views religion's development through visual imagery, with each stage representing a different aspect of human self-consciousness. He argues that evil stems from the same impulse as good and is a result of self-consciousness. Ultimately, Hegel asserts that spirit finds its culmination in the human conscience, where God is internalized.

Absolute Knowing

Hegel argues that revealed religions, including Christianity, rely on symbolic representations rather than achieving genuine self-consciousness. He revisits the progression of human spirit from sense-certainty to religion, asserting that spirit must surpass religion and manifest its principles in human actions. Hegel terms this stage as systematic science, a pure understanding of the self attained through struggle and development. He emphasizes that systematic science must observe the development of spirit within specific contexts, making it a work of history.

Science of Logic

Hegel believed that logic is the form taken by the science of thinking and that existing approaches to logic needed a radical reformulation. He criticized the separation between the content and form of cognition, which created a gap between subject and object. Hegel aimed to bridge this gap by integrating content and form within the science of logic itself. He believed that he had achieved this integration in his work, the Phenomenology of Spirit, through the concept of Absolute Knowing, where subject and object are united, and truth is equated with certainty. Hegel referred to this Post-Dualist form of consciousness as "Begriff," representing the self-contained nature of thought. His goal in the Science of Logic was to overcome the separation between subject and object, providing a comprehensive framework for understanding rational thought and truth. By integrating these elements, Hegel sought to establish a self-contained system reflecting the eternal essence of God before the creation of nature and finite minds.

Philosophy of the Real

Hegel emphasizes that philosophy comes after the completion of actuality and serves to reconstruct and grasp the real world in its intellectual realm. He uses the metaphor of "gray in gray" to illustrate that philosophy recognizes and interprets an already existing shape of life that has aged and cannot be rejuvenated. Philosophy is not meant to dictate how the world should be but to comprehend it as it is. Hegel's concept of actuality suggests that reality is a continuous process, always in a state of preparedness rather than being definitively completed. The relationship between the logical and real-philosophical parts of his system is that philosophy, as the thought and knowledge of the substantial spirit of its time, makes that spirit its object. Hegel's aim is to uncover the systematically coherent logical form within the material of nature and history, presenting it in a scientific manner.

Unfolding of Species

Hegel presents a sequential development from inanimate objects to animate creatures and ultimately to human beings. While this progression has been compared to the Darwinian theory of evolution, Hegel's perspective differs in that he believed organisms possess agency and actively participate in the process. In contrast to Darwin's view of natural selection, Hegel saw organisms as making choices and collaborating with others to advance along this developmental path. According to Hegel, this progression follows a predetermined trajectory, leading towards a teleological end that represents the ultimate purpose and destiny of this natural development.

Political Beliefs

Hegel thought that the state could transcend the limits of the individual mind to form a higher mode of being, based in the national spirit, and a nations constitution.

Variants

Historicism

Historicism is an epistemological and metaphilosophical stance that every human phenomenon is related to historical process, and that understanding of historical developments is neccessary in order to truly understand the human phenomenons. Historicism often believes in historical stages and historical laws which is argued to be crucial in fully understanding history.

Post-Hegelianism

Post-Hegelianism is a variant of Hegelianism.

Personality

Hegelianism generally speaks in long, overly complicated sentience. Nobody is entirely sure what the hell he's trying to say at any given time.

Relations

Friends

• Kantianism - The great teacher, I made your ideas big!
• Stirnerism - My student, but don't be so egoistic, please.
• Bonapartism - A person of the Earth, OMG!
• David Strauss - My more conservative and even more liberal student!
• Spinozism - "You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all."
• Goetheanism - Your Naturphilosophie influnced me.

Frenemies

• Totalitarianism - No, no, I'm not! But the Master and the Slave do exist, and that's based.
• Marxist Theory - You were based in the beginning, but later on, critiqued me? What the devil!?
• Critical Theory - You studied me, but you're still Marxist.
• Taoism - Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching is much admired, but it is nothing more than something with a dialectic basis. And why do some of your followers say my philosophy is bullshit!?

Enemies

• Schopenhauerism - Schopenhauer, my philosophy is BASED, and you are the stupid child!
• Schellingianism - MY PHILOSOPHY ISN'T A PSEUDOPHILOSOPHY, DIRTY POETIST!!!
• Sadism - Shut up, Napoleon is BASED, and you are the one who's being stupid!
• Confucianism - You're just a WORST MORAL SERMON, and the ancient Greeks summed it up better than you！

Further Information

Wikipedia

• Hegelian philosophy
• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

Websites

• Hegel.net