The Philosophy of History

Rating:
Summary: This book gives new meaning to the history!!
Review: Hegel didn't see the historical events as mere chances or something that happen by itself.. He believes that there has to be reason that cause all the historical events.. That reason is the struggle for freedom of human kinds. This central theme is presented through out the book. The way Hegel present the history is not through chronological order but he present it as being from East to West. This representation of the his history is very interesting in itself. By the time that Hegel wrote Philosophy of History, China was still under imperial rule therefore chinese could have much of the freedom. One of the criticism that I have on Hegel is that he threat the Far East as the strange and unrelated area.. Next interesting point that I found in this book is that the western civilization start from Greek.. (I definitely agree with him because Greek is the birth place of western philosophy, art, and politics).. By the time Roman take over the Europe, the center of culture m! ove from Athens to Rome..(Here, again everything moved from East to West). During the Roman Era, there were struggles of people against imperialism... In the sections about Roman, he wrote about the development of Christianity. As an advocated Christian, Hegel believed that Christianity is the divined political plan for people to be free from Roman Emperor.. (That's my interpretion of the Hegel's section on Christianity. It may be different from Hegel original idea) The last section he used Germany as the example of how modern nation evolved. In other word, he traced the history of Germany from barbaric period, to age of Holy Roman Empire, to the era of Germanic empire.. The transition from Holy Roman Empire to the Germanic Empire is the struggle for freedom from Catholic church by Germanic states...

Rating:
Summary: This book gives new meaning to the history!!
Review: Hegel's Philosophy of History is his easiest book to read. He angered some people by saying that History is Freedom, and so those countries which did not have Free States (in 1821, the year he wrote his book) were not truly part of History but part of the Pre-historic period. He begins with a narrative of Africa in 1821 which was steeped in Slavery, both internal and external. He stated that all nations were once at this level of Pre-history, where no king could last more than a year. But China was the first nation to make One but only One Person free, namely, the Emperor. This was the beginning of History. From this point Hegel traces those nations which increased Freedom slowly - from Egypt to Assyria to Babylon to Persia to Greece to Rome to Spain and then Europe as we know it today. The Idea of a Free Republic was born in Greece, but was first made material in Rome. Caesar opposed the Republic because he knew that the fullness of time had not yet come for it; so he opened up barbarian Europe instead. The Free Republic eventually grew to a point where a great, courageous World Historical Individual, Napoleon Bonaparte, overthrew the Medieval structures and paved the way for the eventual abolition of Slavery. Hegel was an Abolitionist and lived to see England and Spain renounce Slavery, but died long before Lincoln, so his view of the USA was pretty pessimistic.

Rating:
Summary: Hegel's most accessible introduction to his thought
Review: Philosophy of History is Hegel's most accessible introduction to his thought.

The introduction and preface are the most valuable parts of the book.

Much of the book is only of historical interest. His history of Greece, Rome, Israel and the Germans cannot be taken seriously anymore. There are racist and jingoist views in this book that seriously date it.

On the other hand, the book clearly expresses Hegel's spiritual philosophy of an evolving God who learns from the history of the world that is his thought.

For those who are looking for an introduction to Hegel that is written in his own words, this book is invaluable.

Rating:
Summary: Hegel believes Hegel is the only one who got it right
Review: The presumption and arrogance of Hegel's philosophical enterprise is apparent. A powerful and profound thinker he believes that he understands all. It is thesis- antithesis - synthesis and that synthesis is new thesis - antithesis - synthesis. And this logic of mind is the logic of history. And it is all coming to climax in the nineteenth century Germany Hegel is living in.
The method of course leads to Marx. Two dialectic dummies.
The 'system' is of course opposed by Kierkegaard who wants real life in his philosophy and not ' system' and ' endless abstraction'.
The world actual history with all its surprising turns and new developments simply makes a joke of the Hegelian analysis. Technical reality gives far too much to our world to take someone like Hegel who could not possibly have understood it as its leader.
We still have the idea of development today. We still too need real and deep thinkers.
But Hegel is outmoded, gone without the tools to help us contend with what we are contending.

Rating:
Summary: A view into the history of reason
Review: This book was wonderful. It shouldn't be read as a history but more as a philosophy. Even there, it is a bit short of the greats. Why then do I call it wonderful? It is a view into the past intelligentsia. His history is antiquated; from a modern perspective some of it is wrong. However, it is great to see the history of views about history and the philosophy of them. I am not a pursuer of the P.C., and understand that the context of civilization, at his time, is the molder of his views. Old books such as this are windows into time and are treasures to be cherished. As far as his philosophy I intend to read more of his work in the future to get a better perspective, but I found it interesting. I am on board with Hegel in that we should pursue our Ideal of the Greek Golden Era to maintain a lofty goal for civilization. Which can be summed up by Thucydides in his description of Athenian life; "We love the beautiful, but without ostentation or extravagance; we philosophize without being seduced thereby into effeminacy and inactivity (for when men give themselves up to Thought, they get further and further from the Practical--from activity for the public, for the common weal). We are bold and daring; but this courageous energy in action does not prevent us from giving ourselves an account of what we undertake (we have a clear consciousness respecting it); among other nations, on the contrary, martial daring has its basis in deficiency of culture: we know best how to distinguish between the agreeable and the irksome; notwithstanding which, we do not shrink from perils."

Rating:
Summary: A view into the history of reason
Review: This book was wonderful. It shouldn't be read as a history but more as a philosophy. Even there, it is a bit short of the greats. Why then do I call it wonderful? It is a view into the past intelligentsia. His history is antiquated; from a modern perspective some of it is wrong. However, it is great to see the history of views about history and the philosophy of them. I am not a pursuer of the P.C., and understand that the context of civilization, at his time, is the molder of his views. Old books such as this are windows into time and are treasures to be cherished. As far as his philosophy I intend to read more of his work in the future to get a better perspective, but I found it interesting. I am on board with Hegel in that we should pursue our Ideal of the Greek Golden Era to maintain a lofty goal for civilization. Which can be summed up by Thucydides in his description of Athenian life; "We love the beautiful, but without ostentation or extravagance; we philosophize without being seduced thereby into effeminacy and inactivity (for when men give themselves up to Thought, they get further and further from the Practical--from activity for the public, for the common weal). We are bold and daring; but this courageous energy in action does not prevent us from giving ourselves an account of what we undertake (we have a clear consciousness respecting it); among other nations, on the contrary, martial daring has its basis in deficiency of culture: we know best how to distinguish between the agreeable and the irksome; notwithstanding which, we do not shrink from perils."