Hegel: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Rating:
Summary: Why do you play with Hegel, master?
Review: I was really surprised to see my Singer cheri having written a book about Hegel. Why Hegel? Why the vulgarisation of philosophy? Who is supposed to read it? I did, 'cause I said to myself that this might be a kind of joke, but unfortunatelly it was not. But I will never understand why do we committ this kind of "litterature". Do not judge Singer using this book. He has much more to say.

Rating:
Summary: Good Intro to Hegel
Review: If you remember a series published by Oxford in the 1980s called "Oxford Past Masters," this is a revised reprint of Singers original outline in that series (also a good series worth searching for in any old bookstore).

The style is good. I read two chapters on a mountaineering weekend by flashlight and as a result remember his entire idea about the struggle of history being a "striving for the realisation of freedom." His whole definition of Freedom is also adequately layed out in the book.

Although it is asking a lot in 122 pages to lay out Hegel's ideas, he does a good job. He connects Hegel with modern convervatism and you can see where the current obsession in the US Bush admin could come from and there is also the traditional interpretations of Hegal "being stood on his head" as understood by Marx. There is even an interesting section on freewill that has implications for modern marketing techniques.

All in all this is a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview
Review: Perhaps some readers do not like Hegel nor Hegelian philosophy. However, it was through reading this brief but informative book, that I came to a much better general understanding of Hegel's intriguing views. Singer really does an outstanding job of explaining complex and frustrating texts to the non-philosopher. Singer's writing is very clear and concise.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent overview
Review: Perhaps some readers do not like Hegel nor Hegelian philosophy. However, it was through reading this brief but informative book, that I came to a much better general understanding of Hegel's intriguing views. Singer really does an outstanding job of explaining complex and frustrating texts to the non-philosopher. Singer's writing is very clear and concise.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent introduction to Hegel
Review: This little volume is a surprisingly good introduction to the thought of a very difficult philosopher, well deserving of inclusion in the fine _Past Masters_ series. I say 'surprising' because people who know Singer only from his own contentious views in favour of abortion, infanticide, and 'animal rights' may not realise that he actually *is* capable of holding responsible opinions when he tries. In fact this carefully planned little work is extremely lucid and thoughtful, well worth the attention even of people who disagree with Singer's own egregious and absurd ethical outlook.