As reason progresses through the human mind's increased understanding of reality, so too does the Absolute progress toward full self-knowledge. Once the Absolute has arrived at full self-consciousness, the cosmic drama reaches its end and goal. In contrast to Spinoza, Kant, and Schelling, Hegel regarded Christianity as the highest form of religion, for in Christianity the truth that the Absolute manifests itself in the finite is symbolically reflected in the incarnation. Hegel stimulated greater interest in history by representing it as a deeper penetration into reality than natural science. According to Hegel, history is governed by logical laws and represents the development of Absolute through reason and freedom.
Reason is master of the world, and history represents a rational process.
As such, history records the development of human freedom, and human history is a progression from less freedom to greater freedom. In ethics, Hegel maintained that right and wrong are a matter of individual conscience. Since individuals are complete only in the midst of social relationships, Hegel considered membership in the state one of the individual's highest duties. Ideally, the state is the manifestation of the general will and obedience to this general will is the act of a free and rational individual. His conception of the national state as the highest social embodiment of the Absolute was for some time believed to be a main source of modern totalitarian ideologies, although Hegel himself argued for a large measure of individual freedom.