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Hegelian Dialectic

The dialectic, or method of working through a disagreement or contradiction, operates through thesis and anti-thesis, which, in turn produce synthesis.  Jostein Gaardner explains:

“Anyone studying history in depth will observe that a thought is usually proposed on the basis of other, previously proposed thoughts. But as soon as one thought is proposed, it will be contradicted by another. A tension arises between these two opposite ways of thinking. But the tension is resolved by the proposal of a third thought which accommodates the best of both points of view. Hegel calls this a dialectic process.”

Gaardner gives, as an example, the thesis of Descartes’ rationalism, which is contradicted by the anti-thesis of Hume’s empiricism.  Immanuel Kant brought about synthesis by agreeing with the rationalists in certain things, and with the empiricists in other things.

However, a synthesis may then become a starting-off point for another chain of reflections.

Distortions Relating to Hegel’s Philosophical Position

Jeremy Harwood, in Philosophy – 100 Great Thinkers, quotes Hegel’s celebrated maxim: “Man owes his entire existence to the state.”  This, according to Harwood, “…marked him out as the intellectual Grandfather of Fascism.”  Harwood claims that Karl Marx, too, “stood Hegel’s teaching on its head to help him to devise his own pseudo-scientific, philosophical, political and economic theories.”

In Memories, Dream, Reflections, Carl Jung has this to say about Hegel:

“Of the nineteenth century philosophers, Hegel put me off by his language, as arrogant as it was laborious; I regarded him with downright distrust. He seemed like a man who was caged in the edifice of his own work and was pompously gesticulating in his prison.”

Jung’s accusation of arrogance towards Hegel was not entirely unfounded, when we consider the philosopher’s attitude toward women.

Shown here is Hegel’s Birthplace, in Stuttgart. Image by ReqEngineer.

Hegel’s Error: Inferiority of Women

According to Jostein Gaardner, Hegel begins by comparing men and women to animals and plants, respectively – with plants being more placid in their development.  “When women hold the helm of government, the state is at once in jeopardy, because women regulate their actions not by the demands of universality but by arbitrary inclinations and opinions.” 

Hegel continues by proclaiming how women only acquire knowledge through living and not by thoughtful and technical exertion.  He does not ever mention how the denial of education to most women at that time might have made it difficult for them to acquire that knowledge.

Gaardner does, however, make the point that “gross broadsides like that one on the inferiority of women hastened the development of feminism.”  However grossly men like Hegel derided women, the resulting strength of their resistance became the “negation” or “anti-thesis.”

The World Spirit in Three Stages

The world spirit, according to Hegel, becomes conscious of itself in three stages:

• As an individual, it is the subjective spirit that motivates us.
• As part of the family, civil society and the state, world spirit achieves a higher consciousness. This is the objective spirit.
• The highest form of self-realization in absolute spirit is our connection with art, religion and philosophy, with philosophy being the highest form of knowledge, “…because in philosophy, the world spirit reflects on its own impact on history. So the world spirit first meets itself in philosophy,” says Jostein Gaardner.

Hegel Advocates a Conflict-Free Society, Dominated By Men

Hegel’s other works were The Science of Logic, Elements of the Philosophy of Right and Lectures on the Philosophy of History.  For Hegel, the ultimate goal of human life is self-recognition. Jeremy Harwood says that Hegel applies his dialectic to society and to the state, believing that the process would come to an end only with the achievement of the ideal of a conflict-free society.

Sadly, when referring to society, Hegel means male-dominated society.  Modern writers make light of his inconsistencies with regard to women, saying he is a product of his time.  Nevertheless, in spite of his arrogance, his obscurity, and his derision of the female sex, Hegel earned consideration as one of the most important philosophers and most accomplished systematic thinkers of the past.