Download Hegel`s Theory of History

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Hegel offered what he liked to call dialectical process, which dealt with the
development of consciousness from individual sensation through social concern with
ethics and politics to the pure consciousness of the World-Spirit in art, religion, and
philosophy. The result is a comprehensive world-view that encompasses the
historical development of civilization in all of its forms. “Hegel's aim was to set forth
a philosophical system so comprehensive that it would encompass the ideas of his
predecessors and create a conceptual framework in terms of which both the past and
future could be philosophically understood.”i Such an aim would require nothing
short of a full account of reality itself. Keeping all of this in mind I feel that Hegel’s
main thesis was the idea that the main objective of philosophy was reality as a whole.
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was born in Stuttgart, Germany in the year
1770; he was the eldest of three children who was brought up in an atmosphere of
Protestant pietism. Before even beginning his schooling at Stuttgart Gymnasium, a
preparatory school, his mother taught him Latin; he was very interested in learning
and his mother aided him to get ahead until her death. Hegel was only eleven years
old when she died. After his preparatory schooling, he began attending the
University of Tubingen. His father encouraged him to become a clergyman. While at
Tubingen he made friends with the future poet Friedrich Hölderlin and the
philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling. These two men, particularly
Hölderlin, influenced Hegel’s life greatly; the young poet helped in the development
of Hegel’s profound interest in Greek literature and philosophy. Hegel’s father’s
dream was no longer an option in the young philosophers mind. Hegel began reading
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profusely, committing everything to memory. His main focus was Goethe’s
teachings. He eventually began studying the thoughts of Immanuel Kant and Johann
Fichte, which also helped him to piece together his thoughts and beliefs on
philosophy.
Hegel’s mother’s death brought an extreme closeness between him and his
sister, Christiane. He was very attached to his sister while growing up, but it seemed
she had become obsessive toward him as the years progressed. She developed a
manic jealousy for Hegel when he was married in later years. Her jealousy of
Hegel’s wife was ultimately the reason for her committing suicide. His sister’s
suicide was the beginning of his development of psychology based on concepts of
dialectics. This is where his ‘theory of history’ began to develop. His theory
consisted of the idea that it is in the nature of dialectical thought to continue, and to
keep thinking. He felt when dialectic stopped, it was no longer itself, and that would
be the end of thought.
Hegel’s theory of history can ultimately be summed up in that "what is
rational is real and what is real is rational.”ii This idea of rationalism was then
divided into two groups of people, the Left Hegalians and the Right Hegalians. The
Left Hegalians believed that ‘what is rational is real’ while the Right Hegalians
believed in the exact opposite, ‘what is real is rational’. This meant that the world
outside of us is growing and becoming more rational while maturing.
He felt that
history exhibited rationality, and believed that for every old idea, there was a new one
which conflicted with it. He believed this held true because he thought God led us to
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perfection and new truths were revealed; in the end he felt history was the product of
conflict. These ideas are what eventually brought him to the idea of history as a
‘dialectical process.’
The point Hegel was trying to get across in this process was to maximize
freedom, for he believed that the maximizing of freedom produced the functioning of
reason. Hegel further claimed that the Absolute must be regarded as pure thought or
spirit of mind in the process of self-development. “Hegel’s life-long endeavor was to
find the Absolute not beyond, but present in the world, the world in which men suffer
and labor…”iii This process was characterized by conflict; in order to have conflict
Hegel believed you needed to have a problem. This area of Hegel’s thought can be
divided into three categories; the thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. He characterized
the ‘thesis’ as an idea or historical movement; the ‘antithesis’ was the opposing
conflict or movement. Lastly, the ‘synthesis’ was characterized as the conflict that
overcomes the others by reconciling the truth of the other two at a higher level. This
‘synthesis’ then becomes a new ‘thesis’, which in turn will produce another
‘antithesis’ and new ‘synthesis’. In other words, this process is a constant loop,
which produces continuous intellectual and historical development. This looping is
what characterized the dialectical process as a ‘progressive’ turn of events. This is so
in that each new thesis represented an advance over the previous thesis, until a final
endpoint was reached. This idea represents the manner in which the spirit develops
gradually into its purest of forms.
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Hegel asserted that without active opposition from the antithesis, existence
was simply an empty task. “Periods of happiness are empty pages in history, for they
are the periods of harmony, times when the antithesis is missing.”iv The question that
is then raised by this passage is, how can it be possible to have an end to history?
After all, if history ends in the ultimate realization of the spirit, then all opposition
must be negated, right? Hegel’s answer would be no because not only has the past
already been completed, but the future is foreclosed to further developments. He felt
that if the final synthesis was reached and nothing was left standing in opposition
there would be nothing left of life.
Looking at the dialectic from the other side of the spectrum, if the dialectic
was continuous, the chief goal of reason would never be reached. In other words, the
process of history would lapse causing what Hegel called ‘bad infinity.’ The lapsing
of history would cause it to be meaningless, not too mention, the idea of reason would
be lost. "The definition of Reason in itself coincides with the final goal of the
world."v Hegel knew that his concept of reason could not exist through
meaninglessness, and this caused the abandonment of the Hegelian endeavor.
Hegel believed there were three types of history and incorporated them in his
philosophy of history. He believed there was ‘original history; the most primitive
kind of history, ‘reflective history,’ and lastly, ‘philosophic history.’ Original history
in Hegel’s eyes was hardly history at all in that it represents unity between the
historian’s consciousness and what he is describing; this sort of contemporary history
is necessarily limited. Reflective history is where the past and present are separate
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spheres and the past has to be consciously retrieved in a way that does not happen in
‘original history.’ Hegel believed this was the phase of ‘mediacy.’ Mediacy was the
special area of understanding. Finally, Hegel believed there was such thing as
‘philosophic history;’ this history, Hegel felt, needed an elaborate justification.
Philosophic history dealt with the idea that thought is essential to humanity. This
area of history ultimately deals with the simple conception of reason; it is the history
of the world.
Hegel, unlike Marx, was not a materialist; his main focus was on the political
aspect of life. He was more interested in the rational thinking that took place in
politics before a movement or law was made. His main goal was to try and explain
how we came up with answers to problems, and more importantly, how the problem
constantly needed an opposing side in order to fuel it. “Hegel’s philosophy is the
science without presuppositions, through and through self-critical, and thus a selfdeveloping whole or circle whose end is its beginning.”vi
Hegel's social and political views emerge most clearly in his discussion of
morality and social ethics. At the level of morality, right and wrong is a matter of
individual conscience. He believed individuals were complete only in the midst of
social relationships; thus, the only context in which duty could truly exist is as a
social one. Hegel considered membership in the state one of the individual's highest
duties. He saw the state as the manifestation of the general will, which is the highest
expression of the ethical spirit. In his eyes, obedience to the general will is the act of a
free and rational individual. Hegel was seen as a conservative due to his beliefs, but
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he should not be interpreted as sanctioning totalitarianism, for he also argued that the
abridgment of freedom by any actual state was unacceptable.
In connection with politics and ‘The State’ Hegel has also been
misunderstood. His historical consciousness originated with the formation of states,
for he saw them as a source of meaning in history and the subjects of the philosophy
of history. He has been quoted as saying, “The state is greater than the individual and
therefore has the inherent right to use the individual for its own ends.”vii
The historical event of his time that was thought to have shaped his ideas was
the French Revolution. The revolution was very important to Hegel, but there was
widespread disagreement as to precisely which aspect of his thought it most clearly
impacted. Some historians felt that it influenced his economic theories, and some felt
it focused primarily on his stance towards political action general. In the end, his
ideas on political philosophy as a whole lay in the understanding of his philosophical
appropriation of the events of the French Revolution. He felt that historical
consciousness revolved around the political sphere because in this sphere a
community is created that is conscious of its continuity over time and requires and
produces an enduring record of its actions. Hegel wasn’t interested in reducing all
history to political history, but he did believe that history as the history of states is the
essential thread around which any inclusive historical account must be organized.
Author Harry Brod was in ardent in saying, “Hegel wanted to accurately represent
historical developments and not present a fanciful construction of history.”viii
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Hegel believed the concept of world history arises out of the meaning of
events as they are organized in a sound order rather than a chaotic and disheveled
fashion. He believed that even when events happened in a chaotic fashion they could
still be considered as organized for there had to be reason behind their happening.
Hegel’s main focus was on the belief that history was not based on a bunch of events
merely thrown together, but rather that everything happened for a reason. He felt
history needed to have an object which would make it interesting, whether it was
something a region had or something it was trying to attain.
Ultimately, the area
needed to have some sort of significance in order to become history. An example of
this is presented in this passage,
Now it is at least admitted that a history must have an object, Rome
and its fortunes, or the decline of the grandeur of the Roman Empire.
But little reflection is needed to discover that this is the presupposed
end which lies at the basis of the events themselves, as of the critical
examination into their comparative importance, their nearer or more
remote relation to it. A history without such aim and such criticism
would be only an imbecile mental divagation, not as good as a fairy
tale, for even children expect a motif in their stories, a purpose at least
dimply surmiseable with which events and actions are put in relation.ix
From the above examples, you can see how Hegel’s theory of history through
the ‘dialectical process’ can be somewhat tedious and hard to swallow. The wideranging and diverse impact of Hegel's ideas on philosophy is evidence of the
remarkable range and the extraordinary depth of his thought. He made significant
contributions in a variety of philosophical fields that have undoubtedly helped many
philosophers, as well as, students understand what is needed in order to cause a
problem and why rationality is so important in everyday life. His central belief of
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‘what is real is ration and what is rational is real’ and the idea that everything, no
matter what it is, is traced back to reason held strong in his mind until the day he died.
Hegel died believing that history exhibited rationality for philosophy to him was
reality as a whole.
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Notes
i.)
Wanda Orynski, Hegel Highlights: An Annotated Selection (New York:
The Polyglot Press, 1960), 171.
ii.)
H. B. Nisbet and Duncan Forbes, Hegel: Lectures on the Philosophy of
World History (London: Cambridge University Press, 1975), 10.
iii.)
Nisbet and Duncan, 11.
iv.)
Peter Singer, Hegel: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1983), 102.
v.)
Singer, 15.
vi.)
Nisbet and Duncan, 7.
vii.)
Orynski, 167.
viii.)
Harry Brod, Hegel’s Philosophy of Politics: Idealism, Identity, &
Modernity (Colorado: Westview Press, 1992), 14.
ix.)
Brod, 16.
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Bibliography
1.) Orynski, Wanda. Hegel Highlights: An Annotated Selection. New
York: The Polyglot Press, 1960.
2.) Nisbet, H. B., and Duncan Forbes. Hegel: Lectures on the Philosophy
of World History. London: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
3.) Singer, Peter. Hegel: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1983.
4.) Brod, Harry. Hegel’s Philosophy of Politics: Idealism, Identity, &
Modernity. Colorado: Westview Press, 1992.
5.) Dickey, Laurence, and H. B. Nisbet. Hegel: Political Writings.
United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
6.) Perkins, Robert. Hegel’s Philosophy of History. New York: State
University of New York Press, 1984.
7.) Hartnack, Justus. An Introduction to Hegel’s Logic. Indianapolis:
Hackett Publishing, 1998.
8.) Pinkard, Terry. Hegel: A Biography. United Kingdom: Cambridge
University, 2000.