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Book No. – 3 (Political Science – Western Political Thought)
Book Name – Western Political Thought (OP Gauba)
What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)
1. General Introduction
2. Philosophy of History
3. Individual’s Quest for Freedom
3.1. Family, Civil Society and the State
3.2. State as Actualisation of Freedom
4. Emancipation from Slavery.
5. A Critical Appraisal
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G.W.F. Hegel
Chapter – 21
General Introduction
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) was a prominent German philosopher and a leading exponent of idealism.
Born into a middle-class Protestant family, his father was a civil servant.
From childhood, Hegel showed a deep interest in philosophy and pursued an academic career after his education.
He taught at various universities in Switzerland and Germany.
In 1818, he was appointed to a chair at the University of Berlin, where he stayed for the rest of his life.
Hegel’s reputation extended beyond academia, gaining national esteem for his justification of the growing power of the German state.
He believed the nation-state was the actualization of eternal reason, elevating its importance in political thought beyond earlier philosophers like Edmund Burke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
His major works include Phenomenology of Spirit (1807), The Science of Logic (1812), Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences (1817; revised twice), and Philosophy of Right (1821).
Posthumously published lectures cover Philosophy of History, History of Philosophy, and Philosophy of Religion.
The core of Hegel’s political thought is mainly in his Philosophy of Right.
His political philosophy is grounded in his dialectical method, systematically outlined in Science of Logic and Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences.
His Phenomenology of Spirit also contains important social and political ideas.
Idealism
Idealism refers to a philosophical outlook which holds that all objects of the universe physical entities as well as social and political institutions are the manifestations of the Idea (Spirit or Consciousness). G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831), German philosopher, argued that the Idea has the capacity as well as tendency of development, and that it is transformed into the Absolute Idea through a long process of historical change.