Self-determination and “the Right to Specificity”. Concerning Hegel’s Theory of Modern Freedom

In this paper, it will be shown that Hegel’s philosophical thematisation of subjective freedom has given a fundamental contribution to the historical innovation of modernity, which regards not only human rights, but also norms and values. Besides, it played an important role concerning the cultural transformation, i.e., the process of the realization of the historical innovation oriented towards the ideals of modern freedom. To show this, the author will focus on some passages from Hegel’s Philosophy of Right of 1820, in which Hegel regarded subjective freedom as universally-normative and, at the same time, as socially and historically contextualized (situated, respectively). Hegel, namely, explicates modern freedom in its ideality and moral normativity, addressing its realization in particular forms of life. Marriage, for instance, as it will be shown towards the end of this contribution, exemplified as the right to particularity, is the normative basis of modern subjective freedom. Tensions and collisions will permanently challenge this type of freedom and also require permanent (and self-defeating) efforts invested in striving for a (too contextualized and situated) „reconciliation“ (in Hegel´s terms Versöhnung).

Hegel-Studien Band 55

Aus dem Inhalt: Hegels Moral- und Handlungsphilosophie Armando Manchisi: Die Idee des Guten bei Hegel: Eine metaethische Untersuchung Giulia Battistoni/Thomas Meyer: Handlung, Vorsatz, Schuld: Karl Ludwig Michelet als Interpret der hegelschen Handlungstheorie Stephan Zimmermann: Die „allgemeine Handlungsweise“: Zu Hegels Begriff der Sitte. Der objektive Geist im Kontext von Hegels Philosophie des Geistes Eduardo Assalone: Ethical Mediation in Hegel’s Philosophy of Right Jean-Baptiste Vuillerod: La dialectique de l’homme maître et de la femme esclave: La Phénoménologie de l’esprit à l’aune des manuscrits d’Iéna Emanuele Cafagna: Die Garantie der Freiheit: Hegels Begriff der Korporation als Bestandteil der Verfassung Alberto L. Siani: Von Tragödie und Komödie zum absoluten Geist: Die Funktion der Kunst in Hegels Naturrechtsaufsatz Markus Gante: Freiheit und das Wissen der Freiheit: Absoluter Geist und zweite Natur Martin Walter: Was geschah mit den Restbeständen der 3. Auflage von Hegels Enzyklopädie (1830) Literaturberichte und Kritik Bibliographie

Hegel and the Problem of Affluence

It is widely known that Hegel's Philosophy of Right recognizes poverty as one of the central problems of modern civil society. What is much less well known, however, is that Hegel sees yet another structural problem at the opposite side of the economic spectrum: a problem of affluence. Indeed, as I show in this essay, Hegel's text contains a detailed—yet sometimes overlooked—discussion of the detrimental psychological and sociological effects of great wealth and how to counter them. By bringing this discussion to the fore, we get a more complete picture of Hegel's theory of civil society (and of some of its central concepts, such as ‘the rabble') and shed light on an aspect of Hegel's social philosophy that speaks to problems we face today.

Understanding Karl Marx's Critique of Hegel's “Philosophy of Right”

Rereading the young Karl Marx's “Critique of Hegel's ‘Philosophy of Right’“ in light of a broader range of scholarship enables a more accurate understanding of the historical and intellectual significance of this work. Shlomo Avineri's pioneering treatment is deficient in important respects. A return to Marx's and Hegel's texts may help determine more exactly what Marx was trying to figure out through Hegel, and why he saw the need to move beyond Hegel to accomplish it. In Marx's mature writings, as Postone has shown, Marx's concept of “capital” purports to identify the real basis of Hegelian Geist. Recognizing this enables an analysis that provides a fuller view of both young and mature Marx as they relate to Hegel and to one another than is typical in the literature, which often either divides Marx into young-humanist and old-economist, or else inter-collapses old and young Marx too readily.