Hegel aimed to guide readers to "the concrete comprehension of absolute Truth," a non-formal self-consciousness.
This understanding encompasses the world and the meaning of human life in a way that aligns with Religion, with God as its central subject.
Hegel believed his work completed Luther’s "Spiritual Freedom and Reconciliation" and the Enlightenment demand for inward demonstration of truth.
Philosophy should lead to the insight that "the real world is as it ought to be".
This involves reconciling oneself to the death of God and recognizing universal divine reason as a vital principle.
God governs the world, and history is the execution of His plan.
The religiously informed life, even of a simple shepherd or peasant, embodies this reconciled consciousness, though its basis remains obscure to them.
Many contrast the world as it is with their ideal, leading to discontent or revolt, especially concerning "Reason, Justice, Liberty".
The activity arising from subjective will is integrated into the development of a State, which embodies the unfolding of the Divine Idea on Earth.
This progresses towards realizing complete self-consciousness of freedom in a rational State governed by laws of freedom.
Hegel critiques Kantian political liberalism for falling short of true freedom, viewing the State as more than a means of achieving universal limitation.
Hegel envisions a State embodying real laws of Freedom, unifying the objectively rational and subjectively rational will.
Progress towards this has been most evident in Germanic states, which have been less affected by Kantian liberal modernity.
Attainment causes reconciliation with the world and leads to an ideally immutable state: Reason pervades all of life.
Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit
Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit aims for complete self-understanding, reaching Absolute Knowledge or Spirit knowing itself as Spirit.
The goal is achieved through recollecting spiritual forms and their organization of their spiritual kingdom.
History and Science combine to form the recollection and Golgotha of Absolute Spirit, providing reality, truth, and certainty.
Hegel borrows from Schiller's poem "Friendship," altering the final lines.
In Man's grief-reconciled attaining to himself, God is given to himself.
Hegel vs. Schiller
Schiller emphasizes transcendence, with Man reaching towards God.
God creates souls in his image, yet finds no equal.
Schiller includes a dash to mark a separation, leaving God as "the transcendens."
Hegel seeks a reconciling negation of separation between Man and God, with each finding themselves in the other.
Hegel's view is more mystical, involving an experience of Oneness or Unity with the Whole, entailing loss of individual identification.
The fate of the individual in Hegel’s concept of State is a concern.
Hegel places emphasis on the community within the church, with love mediating between individual subjectivity and the church.
Kierkegaard critiques Hegel, asserting that the individual is the decisive Christian category, not the church.
The individual vs. community debate is central to political philosophy since Kant and Hegel, impacting Hegel's critique of Kant.
Hegel seeks to convince readers that limitation of self-will is essential for emancipation.
Marx’s Critique of Hegel
Marx engages with Hegel's Philosophy of Right, particularly the section on the State.
Marx shares Hegel's antipathy towards Kantianism and believes political liberalism falls short of allowing for full self-realization of Man.
Marx seeks a shift to the "real universality" of actual democracy, opposing the "mystical universality" of the Hegelian State.
The development of philosophical history pivots on religion and the concept of being "merely formal".
Marx’s Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right
Marx's Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right is a commentary on a specific section of Hegel's text, covering