Hegel: Ein Rationalist?
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Dietmar H. Heidemann
Abstract
It is almost beyond doubt that Hegel’s thought bears rationalist traits. The question of whether Hegel can count as a rationalist, however, is controversial. This contribution argues that although Hegel is a rationalist in the wide, systematic sense, he is not a rationalist in the narrow historical sense. This is not a trivial observation. In numerous passages of his works it seems that Hegel implicitly endorses the central rationalist thesis, according to which the principles of thought are the principles of the possibility of things themselves. But Hegel’s idealism of absolute rationality claims to have overcome by rationalist means, this thesis and therefore also rationalism in the narrow historical sense. The paper examines and critically assesses this claim with respect to the Phenomenology of Spirit and the Science of Logic.
Abstract
It is almost beyond doubt that Hegel’s thought bears rationalist traits. The question of whether Hegel can count as a rationalist, however, is controversial. This contribution argues that although Hegel is a rationalist in the wide, systematic sense, he is not a rationalist in the narrow historical sense. This is not a trivial observation. In numerous passages of his works it seems that Hegel implicitly endorses the central rationalist thesis, according to which the principles of thought are the principles of the possibility of things themselves. But Hegel’s idealism of absolute rationality claims to have overcome by rationalist means, this thesis and therefore also rationalism in the narrow historical sense. The paper examines and critically assesses this claim with respect to the Phenomenology of Spirit and the Science of Logic.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Inhalt V
- Vorwort VII
- Preface IX
- Einleitung XI
- Introduction XIX
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I. Beiträge/Essays
- Staking Out the Terrain of Pure Reason: Kant’s Critique of Wolffian Metaphysics in Dreams of a Spirit-Seer 3
- Sensibility and Understanding in Leibniz and Kant 25
- Finite Minds and Their Representations in Leibniz and Kant 47
- Epistemic Confidence – Kant’s Rationalization of the Principles of Seeking and Finding 81
- Fichte’s Spinoza: “Common Standpoint,” “Essential Opposition,” and “Hidden Treasure” 103
- Fichte’s Critique of Spinoza in the Grundlage 139
- Die praktische Konstitution des „Setzens“ nach der Wissenschaftslehre Fichte 165
- I Speak, Therefore I am: Hegel on Descartes 187
- Hegel, Spinoza, and McTaggart on the Reality of Time 211
- Hegel: Ein Rationalist? 235
- Force, Existence, and the Transcendence of the Good in Schelling’s Weltalter (1815) 265
- Novalis, Spinoza and the Realization of Nature 295
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II. Rezensionen/Reviews
- James Kreines: Reason in the World: Hegel’s Metaphysics and Its Philosophical Appeal 321
- Sophia Vasalou: Schopenhauer and the Aesthetic Standpoint: Philosophy as a Practice of the Sublime 327
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: The Science of Logic. Übersetzt und herausgegeben von George di Giovanni 333
- Jörg Noller: Die Bestimmung des Willens. Zum Problem individueller Freiheit im Ausgang von Kant 339
- Autoren/Authors 343
- Hinweis an die Verlage/Letter to Publishers 347
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Inhalt V
- Vorwort VII
- Preface IX
- Einleitung XI
- Introduction XIX
-
I. Beiträge/Essays
- Staking Out the Terrain of Pure Reason: Kant’s Critique of Wolffian Metaphysics in Dreams of a Spirit-Seer 3
- Sensibility and Understanding in Leibniz and Kant 25
- Finite Minds and Their Representations in Leibniz and Kant 47
- Epistemic Confidence – Kant’s Rationalization of the Principles of Seeking and Finding 81
- Fichte’s Spinoza: “Common Standpoint,” “Essential Opposition,” and “Hidden Treasure” 103
- Fichte’s Critique of Spinoza in the Grundlage 139
- Die praktische Konstitution des „Setzens“ nach der Wissenschaftslehre Fichte 165
- I Speak, Therefore I am: Hegel on Descartes 187
- Hegel, Spinoza, and McTaggart on the Reality of Time 211
- Hegel: Ein Rationalist? 235
- Force, Existence, and the Transcendence of the Good in Schelling’s Weltalter (1815) 265
- Novalis, Spinoza and the Realization of Nature 295
-
II. Rezensionen/Reviews
- James Kreines: Reason in the World: Hegel’s Metaphysics and Its Philosophical Appeal 321
- Sophia Vasalou: Schopenhauer and the Aesthetic Standpoint: Philosophy as a Practice of the Sublime 327
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: The Science of Logic. Übersetzt und herausgegeben von George di Giovanni 333
- Jörg Noller: Die Bestimmung des Willens. Zum Problem individueller Freiheit im Ausgang von Kant 339
- Autoren/Authors 343
- Hinweis an die Verlage/Letter to Publishers 347
