All Day I Dream About The two-foldedness of the essence of the active concept of free will.

November 26, 2007 1:29 PM

I need to write a paper about Hegel. An eleven-page paper. I have the knowledge, I have the skills, and I sort of have the time. But what about?

I've read Lord & Bondsman, Philosophy of Right, and some of Sense-Certainty. I've even understood a bit of it. But I can't seem to find any part of his works that really inspires a paper topic. So, anyone who knows about this area of philosophy, can you lend a hand? I'm also open to linking him to Fichte, Kant, Spinoza...

In short - not looking for anyone to write me a paper, or a thesis, or anything. Just trying to figure out what's interesting and 'arguable' in these intensely tough texts.

Thanks for any help

posted by tmcw to religion & philosophy (13 comments total)

One obvious direction is the relationship between Nietzsche's concept of ressentiment in the Genealogy of Morals and the Master/Slave Dialectic.

You might also try checking out the (lengthy...) introduction to the lectures on the philosophy of history. There's a lot of really fascinating stuff there.
posted by nasreddin at 1:35 PM on November 26, 2007

I don't know anything about this philosopher specifically, but it seems like there's certainly 11 pages' worth of material in this section of the Wikipedia article - specifically the "domains of reality" and how they can be applied to arts and culture. If I had this assignment I'd probably write about pieces and works from that time period (surely there's a wealth of stage, music, painting, sculpture, politics, science - or even just focusing on one of those, such as paintings), and find some modern examples (or it could be a continuous timeline of influence from then 'til now, whatever works best for you).

Alternately, you could apply the "triad" thing to other events, discussing first the application to the French Revolution and maybe bringing in something comparable, but more modern?

It could also help to know what class this it for, and what are the teacher's specialties and interests. Plus, what's something you're interested in? In my case it's easy to write about art and literature, but if you have an interest in historical wars (or whatever else) you can probably find some way to work that in.
posted by lhall at 1:39 PM on November 26, 2007

I've always thought it'd be fun to throw Hegel's theory of history (or historicity, as you may have it) at Rawl's Theory of Justice and see what sticks, and whether or not the resultant product looks like Kant's On Perpetual Peace.

Full disclaimer: I am not a philosopher.
posted by ikkyu2 at 1:45 PM on November 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't have any great ideas for you except: go talk to your professor. It's very likely that they will be extremely pleased to help you think about what topics would be interesting and manageable, with more expertise and in more depth than we can do here.
posted by LobsterMitten at 1:47 PM on November 26, 2007

Kierkegaard deals a lot with Hegel in 'Fear and Trembling' which might be worth talking about for a few pages. Mostly about faith versus reason and such. Whether you buy it or not, Kierkegaard makes a pretty sophisticated argument for faith, or at least its absurdity. It could make for an interesting way to flesh out some of Hegel's overall purpose.
posted by thankyoujohnnyfever at 1:52 PM on November 26, 2007

You're not looking for a thesis, but you are looking for a topic, which as far as I am concerned is just as bad. If you want to get into a discussion about your proposal, fine, but saying "what's interesting?" is pretty damn close to saying "what's a good topic"? And that IS asking other people to do the hard work for you.

Come up with a topic, and then come back and ask for opinions or feedback.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 2:24 PM on November 26, 2007

There's an interesting pile of ramifications about Hegel's influence on Marx and the Marxist influence on the interpretation of history that might be neat.

Specifically, Hegel's theory of history set up a contradiction within Marxist historical interpretations that directly conflicts with Marx's direct observations of factory workers and how empirical evidence shows history to be happening. There is a huge struggle within historiography to merge these two ideas together and maintain a Marxist view of history for a great number of years.

Although, you might want to check with your professor and see if that fits into the paper.
posted by teleri025 at 2:29 PM on November 26, 2007

Specifically, Hegel's theory of history set up a contradiction within Marxist historical interpretations that directly conflicts with Marx's direct observations of factory workers and how empirical evidence shows history to be happening. There is a huge struggle within historiography to merge these two ideas together and maintain a Marxist view of history for a great number of years.

If you do this, you should read Althusser's For Marx, which uses the notion of an "epistemological break" to explore Marx's relationship to Hegelianism.
posted by nasreddin at 2:42 PM on November 26, 2007

I have just been doing some digging into Marx and Engels, and hence also Hegel. Since I am what my old German prof used to call "a pragmatic Anglosaxon", dialectic appears to me to be mystical mumbo jumbo. I'm sure you could spend 11 pages defending or contradicting that.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 3:07 PM on November 26, 2007

It's not really possible for us to tell you what a good topic is, because we don't know what's been covered in the class, what would relate to it, and what your professor expects.

I nth, go talk to your professor. That's what your professor is there for.
posted by Ms. Saint at 5:53 PM on November 26, 2007

I would write about how Deleuze sets Hegel up as his adversary, but how Delueze-thought rests heavily on Hegel.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:11 PM on November 26, 2007

Go topical. Radical Islam through the Hegelian Lens. Try googling stuff on the Muslim Brotherhood, an Egyptian group which formed the intellectual birthplace for much of the movement's ideals. Look for connections between their intellectual leaders and hegel. Their philosophy is very hegelian. I guess Fukyama is already on to this. You could analyze the radical Islamist movement from a hegelian perspective, specifically looking at "The Philosophy of History" and/or "The Phenomenology of Right" in that context.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:29 PM on November 26, 2007

You may want to be careful about "the triad thing", at least insofar as calling it thesis-antithesis-synthesis. While it has become a commonplace in (English) writing on Hegel, it is dangerously misleading. Take a look at Gustav Mueller's "The Hegel Legend of 'Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis'" in The Hegel Myths and Legends, ed. John Steward (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1996).

That being said, if you're talking about someone who is herself talking about Hegel, and they use the thesis-antithesis-synthesis jargon, then you'll have to clarify things.

And, unfortunately, I have seen professors teach Hegel in terms of thesis-antithesis-synthesis...
posted by alaaarm at 4:35 AM on November 28, 2007 [1 favorite]