Hegel’s Philosophy: Dialectics, Spirit, and History
Friedrich Hegel was born in 1770, during the reign of Frederick the Great. Frederick William II, his successor, was a poor manager of Prussia. Emerging during the Enlightenment and the age of revolutions (industrial, French, and the start of the Napoleonic Empire), Hegel’s philosophy was deeply influenced by these historical shifts.
Hegel’s Triadic Division
Hegel’s system is divided into three parts:
- Logic: Thesis or affirmation.
- Philosophy of Nature: Antithesis, denying the initial claim.
- Philosophy of Mind: Synthesis, the negation of the negation.
Hegelian Logic
Hegelian logic posits that human expression reflects cosmic rationality, existing both within and above the individual. It’s a concept that is simultaneously human and divine. Hegel famously stated, “All that is rational is real, and all that is real is rational.” This means that what is real can drive further action, leading to increased rationality and universality.
The *Concept*, for Hegel, can be subjective, objective, or absolute. It is concrete and develops through community, deepening all known knowledge, and originating from true reality.
“Everything is in constant motion, truly, affirming, denying, and denying the denial.” Logic is dynamic, like a deity in motion. The more it overcomes contradictions, the more perfect it becomes, leading to new and better ideas. This process involves gains and losses, but ultimately, universal reason benefits.
Dialectics
Hegel’s dialectic is a process of trial and progress. Being becomes what it is by virtue of not yet being what it could be, and so on.
Spirit
Spirit represents the whole of reality, animated by all its ends through *logos*.
Philosophy of Nature
Logos manifests in the form of mechanical reality (mechanism), then as reality governed by chemical processes (chemism), and finally as reality acting according to purpose (teleology).
Philosophy of Mind
This branch studies human behavior, with a tripartite analysis:
- Subjective Spirit:
- Anthropology: Man as a living being.
- Phenomenology: Increasing self-awareness.
- Psychology: Consciousness and freedom.
- Objective Spirit: Law, Morality, and Ethics.
- Ethics: Family, Civil Society, and the State (universal reason).
Absolute Spirit
This encompasses:
- Art: Individual figure of speech.
- Religion: Mystical expression of God.
- Philosophy: Reality expressed through reason.
Hegel also focused on historical developments. He stated, “Everything that is State is real.” He saw the state as a momentary stage in the rational journey of logos, but not necessarily the ultimate expression of rationality.
19th-Century Social Thinkers
Henri de Saint-Simon
Saint-Simon advocated for the socialization of property and the removal of inheritance rights. He believed all individuals should produce according to their abilities and be rewarded accordingly, preventing the classic rich-poor divide. His proposed government was a dictatorship of the most qualified, leading the people scientifically.
Charles Fourier
Fourier’s most important social idea was the *phalanstery*, or cooperative society. Every individual would have the opportunity to find their most fulfilling activity and vocation. Work, in this way, would become a source of social and human fulfillment, rather than a form of slavery.
Robert Owen
A precursor of labor law, Robert Owen attempted to create the colony of Harmony, based on a mixed economy, but it ultimately failed.
The Trade Unions
From 1830, the federation of all trade unions aimed to achieve social demands through non-violent means, primarily using the general strike. This was the origin of cooperative unions, advocating for a transformation of society, not merely wage reform, as championed by revolutionary syndicalism.