Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel marked a turning point in philosophical thinking in Western Europe and also in Russia in the 19th century; he was a great admirer of Plato, Descartes and Kant, and German idealism gained its finest expression in this thinker. It is that there has been a great advance in the theory of the evolution of consciousness thanks to it.
If there is one thing that most of us know is that reading Hegel is not simple, his best-known book, Phenomenology of the Spirit (1807), is a sign of this dense but also decisive intellectual heritage in what we call historical. Dialectic.
- It should be noted.
- However.
- That many have seen it in their thesis — such as in their definition of the state — the basis of the more radical thoughts that inspired German nationalism.
- Hitler himself.
- For example.
- Saw some justification in Hegelian philosophy for his ideas when he read phrases such as “only the Germanic world.
- As an embodiment of true Christianity.
- Represents true freedom”.
However, Friedrich Hegel was much more than this kind of isolated statement, his thought was like a strand responsible for illuminating and generating a myriad of theoretical and philosophical reactions, inspired Marxist materialism, laid the foundations for the pre-existingism of S. J. Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche’s metaphysical concept and even Theodor W. Adorno’s negative dialectic.
Hegel was, in essence, a philosopher who invited us to think that there are no barriers between us and the world, that we are creators of our truth, he also introduced the concept of dialectic to explain to us that history and our own thinking are the result of the continuous movement between solutions and contradictions.
“Man’s independence consists of this: knowing what determines it” – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel-
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was born in Stuttgart on 27 August 1770. Coming from a Protestant family and in good condition, he has always been surrounded by the most advanced cultural environment of 19th-century Germany, developed several friendships with references of the time. such as the philosopher Friedrich von Schelling and the poet Friedrich Hulderlin; In addition, from an early age, he has always been a fervent admirer of the work of Emmanuel Kant and Schiller.
He studied Philosophy and Theology at the University of Tubingen and, after receiving a legacy after his father’s death, was able to devote himself fully and calmly to academia. After presenting his thesis “Planetary Orbits”, he soon obtained a chair, thus deepening a vast field of knowledge such as mathematics, logic and law.
In 1807 he published the book Phenomenology of the Spirit, in which he deepened aspects such as the meaning of consciousness, perception and knowledge; in this work, he emphasized the only thing that was true to him, which is nothing but reason. This work had a great impact, it soon was convened by other universities to train other students in Heidelberg and Berlin.
His courses were famous throughout Europe. His students said that he was able to give an answer and a profound meaning to almost everything, that his mind was that of a titan of knowledge and that Hegel was to be like Plato himself in ancient Greece.
His analysis of the philosophy of law and the state system has led several groups to study their different theories, thesis and views, the cultural elite and the political class of the time saw it as a reference to learn and inspire in a sense. , as Karl Marx did when the time came; however, he did not see the full impact of his work.
Friedrich Hegel died on 14 November 1831 of cholera. Were it your students who disseminated their writings and notes in all areas of knowledge in which he had immersed himself: history, religion, aesthetics?
“The man who cannot fight for freedom is not a man, he is a servant” – Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel-
Hegel was best known for introducing history to philosophy. Until then, philosophical discourses were part of a void, an entity where access to the sense of truth was separated from references to social events.
In this context, it was made like the French Revolution that most marked Hegel’s speech, as well as the change of mindset that prevailed in the Europe of the time, concepts such as freedom finally gained great fame, and Friedrich Hegel was decisive as spokesman for this thought.
Now let’s look at the most relevant concepts of his philosophical legacy.
When someone talks about Hegel, it is common to define his thinking as the essence of German idealism, but what does that really mean?Idealism is a philosophical theory that defends the following:
Thus, and from this point of view, it has often been argued that happiness should not be the main purpose of the human being, the most important thing is knowledge and reason.
Hegel defined reason as a dialectical process, one can affirm a fact and then deny it, and then overcome this contradiction, in this way the dialectical movement would have for him the following steps:
Hegel believed that true freedom had to start from a concrete basis: the State itself; only from this basic scenario can the person feel realized and, in turn, acquire a genuine sense of dignity, that is, the human being needs a legal framework to which they can submit.
Moreover, in this Hegelian scheme, it is through Christianity that authentic freedom can be acquired. As we can well assume, these ideas then marked other currents in different ways.
If we talk about philosophy, it is also essential to delve into the field of logic, and within it, it is obligatory to understand Hegel’s most famous thesis: contradiction, so and according to this principle, one thing is itself and is Not at the same time.
That is, we all change, we all change and we move from one moment to another as a result of life itself, of change. Life is a constant contradiction.
Hegel has defined an interesting distinction between natural beauty and artistic beauty, the first refers to the most wonderful, because it is authentic, it is free and represents the natural spirit of things; the second, artistic beauty, is created by the spirit itself. and this is what allows us, in turn, an aesthetic quest to acquire knowledge.
Friedrich Hegel is today one of the most notable references of philosophy, he is admired by many and seen unwellly by others, perhaps by his concept of state and German idealism, or by Eurocentrism, there are also those who look at him with some concern. unhooks at the complexity of its texts.
However, his ideas marked a very important moment in Europe. Today, books such as the Phenomenology of the Spirit remain an almost obligatory reading.