Hegel's "Reason in History"

Paper Summary:

The paper seeks to define the terms history, spirit, man, freedom, idea and nature according to the definitions of Hegel. The writer continues with an explanation of how these terms relate to each other and how they relate to Hegel's concept of God. The paper also considers the philosophy of Kant and the ways in which their ideas differ.

From the Paper:

"Freedom, to Hegel, is the very essence of Spirit, the highest reward to Spirit after its development of consciousness. To better explain that Spirit is Freedom, Hegel contrasts Spirit with Matter, its opposite. While Matter, responding to its gravitational dependence on other Matter, moves toward unity, thereby attaining substance (i.e. existence) outside itself, Spirit "does not have unity outside of itself but has found it: it is in itself and with itself." Applying this example to man, Hegel shows that the man who develops spiritually becomes more conscious of himself, and, as a result, is freer. When a person is free, he is unrestrained by external forces: his Spirit is self-contained and, therefore, independent. Hegel also says that history is included in Freedom, for history is "the exhibition of spirit striving to attain knowledge of its own nature." Since history is a record of States, and the State is produced of a reality that supports Right and Law, both of which are recognized through Freedom, both history and the State are part of Freedom. In conclusion, Freedom, says Hegel, is "the final purpose of the world.""

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