Ideas can be superseded,
not the idea of freedom.
ludwig börne
This volume brings together essays on Hegel from various decades of my involvement with the most important philosophical thinker of modernity. It is directed against some of the misinterpretations, malicious legends, and fairy tales about Hegel that are still prevalent today.
Hegel’s idealism of freedom contains a number of epoch-making ideas that articulate a new understanding of freedom and which still shape contemporary philosophy. Hegel establishes a modern logic and the idea of a social state. With his distinction between civil society and the state he makes an innovative contribution to political philosophy. He defends the idea of freedom for all in a modern society and is a sharp critic of every nationalism and racism. According to Ernst Gombrich, Hegel is the father of the discipline of art history. According to Jacques Derrida, he is the founder of modern semiotics and makes a decisive contribution to the philosophical understanding of language.
The highest praise comes from Hegel’s Nuremberg pupil Johann Georg August Wirth, who wrote that Hegel “ignited” in him “the immortal idea of freedom”.
A new Hegel biography, published on the occasion of his 250th birthday, offers detailed discussion of the path of his life and thought: Klaus Vieweg, Hegel – Der Philosoph der Freiheit.
Klaus Vieweg
Jena, Autumn 2019