Hegel: A Biography
Hegel scholar Pinkard (a professor of philosophy at Georgetown) presents his deep knowledge of the "paradigmatically obscure" German philosopher (1770-1831) to the broad reading public. Hegel himself would be pleased, for he saw himself as a public intellectual, offering up the only philosophy that could explain modern humanity to itself. Obscure language was merely the battering ram of his thought, provoking readers to shed their slavish acceptance of received tradition and learn to think for themselves. German traditionalists (and romantic nationalists) exemplified, in Hegel's memorable quip, not Deutschtum (Germanness) but Deutschdumm (German stupidity). Though Hegel praised the American Revolution (and the French--he was always keenly interested in politics), he could not have anticipated how inadequate a foundation American public education would lay for his ideas. In clear and modest language, Pinkard fills the breach between Hegelian Bildung (humanistic education) and the average American adult. He concisely summarizes the philosopher's key works, placing them in the larger context of Hegel's life and times. Rich details of Hegel's own person--his Napoleonic haircut, wooden lecture style and "very characteristic smile"--enrich a narrative of operatic scope, complete with mad poet friend (H lderlin), illegitimate son (Ludwig Fischer) and philosophical nemesis (J.F. Fries). Hegel's philosophy, which finessed contradiction, mirrored the contradictions in his life. A touching instance: his early harsh judgments on Judaism softened under the influence of his Jewish (later Christian) friend, the jurist Eduard Gans. The portrait that emerges wins sympathy and understanding. Pinkard frees Hegel from the obscurity that unfairly clouds his memory and shows him, stunningly, for who he really was: an early modern version of ourselves. (May)Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.