Hegel's Idealism: The Satisfactions of Self-Consciousness
Hegel's Idealism: The Satisfactions of Self-Consciousness is a 1989 book by the philosopher Robert B. Pippin in which the author provides an analysis of Self-consciousness in Hegel's philosophy.
| Authors | Robert B. Pippin |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Self-consciousness |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Publication date | 1989 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| ISBN | 9780511621109 |
Content
Pippin portrays Hegel as a thinker with fewer metaphysical commitments than are traditionally attributed. Hegel's claims about the "Absolute" and "Spirit" are interpreted in a vein more epistemological than ontological. Much of Hegel's project, in Pippin's reading, is a continuation rather than a reversal of the Kantian critique of dogmatic metaphysics.
According to Pippin's non-metaphysical interpretation of Hegel, the Hegelian "Geist" (which is usually translated as "Spirit") is not a divine spiritual being, and accordingly Hegel's idealism is not a defense of monistic pantheism. According to Pippin, the Hegelian "Geist" should be understood as the totality of norms, which according to them, we can justify our beliefs and actions. The important point is that, we cannot justify anything but in such a normative logical space of reasons. So any kind of distinctively human rational cognition and action is not articulatable and so intelligible independent of such norms. In a phenomenological-hermeneutical jargon, these norms constitute a horizon, a perspective in which we can make intelligible anything to ourselves. Additionally, these norms are socio-historically articulated. Geist is the dynamic process of these norms and their transformations in human history. Hegel calls different articulations of these norms "shapes (Gestalten) of spirit". So Hegelian idealism is not a kind of return to pre-Kantian and pre-critical dogmatic metaphysics, but trying to going beyond Kantian critical project on the one hand, and historicist critiques of Kantian transcendental philosophy, on the other. It should be added that, any shape of spirit could collapse under the pressure of internal or external forces (such as internal inconsistencies of those norms or facing with new forms of life with different norms) which lead to crisis for the authority of those norms. But because of the actual plurality of shapes of spirit (or forms of life) any account of human agency which is socio-historical is in danger of getting into relativism.
These ideas could be attributed to many other philosophers, such as Herder, Heidegger, Gadamer, and MacIntyre. But according to the non-metaphysical interpretations of Hegel (such as Pippin's, Pinkard's and Redding's) there is a distinctive feature of Hegelian approach which can transcend the alleged dilemma of, on the one hand, socio-historical relativism and, on the other hand, returning to dogmatic metaphysics or trans-historical subjectivity: mutual recognition as the condition of free, self-determined and so authentic rational agency.
Such a revisionist reading of Hegel has gained a following recently, inspiring important works by Terry Pinkard, Paul Redding and others, as well as influencing less historically-oriented philosophers of mind such as John McDowell and Robert Brandom. A similar movement to interpret Hegel as a "category-theorist" has been inspired in Germany by Klaus Hartmann.
Reception
The book has been reviewed in History of European Ideas, German Studies Review and Journal of the History of Philosophy. [1][2][3]
References
- Zelechow, Bernard (1 January 1991). "Hegel's idealism: The satisfactions of self-consciousness". History of European Ideas. 13 (4): 467–468. doi:10.1016/0191-6599(91)90047-3. ISSN 0191-6599.
- Roche, Mark W. (1991). "Review of Hegel's Idealism: The Satisfactions of Self-Consciousness". German Studies Review. 14 (1): 171–172. doi:10.2307/1430188. ISSN 0149-7952.
- Flay, Joseph C. (1991). "Hegel's Idealism: The Satisfactions of Self-Consciousness (review)". Journal of the History of Philosophy. 29 (3): 502–503. doi:10.1353/hph.1991.0074. ISSN 1538-4586.