The laws of the spirit
Subtitle: a Hegelian theory of justice
By: Shannon Hoff
Publisher: SUNY Press
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 297
ISBN-13: 9781438450278
Copyright date: 2014
Subjects: Spirit; Justice (Philosophy)
Description: Drawing from a variety of Hegels writings, Shannon Hoff articulates a theory of justice that requires answering simultaneously to three irreducibly different demands: those of community, universality, and individuality. The domains of ethicality, legality, and morality correspond to these essential dimensions of human experience, and a political system that fails to give adequate recognition to any one of these will become oppressive. The commitment to legality emphasized in modern and contemporary political life, Hoff argues, systematically precludes adequate recognition of the formative cultural contexts that Hegel identifies under the name of ethical life and of singular experiences of moral duty, or conscience. Countering the perception of Hegel as a conservative political thinker and engaging broadly with contemporary work in liberalism, critical theory, and feminism, Hoff focuses on these themes of ethicality and conscience to consider how modern liberal politics must be transformed if it is to accommodate these essential dimensions of human life.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-283) and index.