Open AccessAbsolute spirit: The relevance of Hegel’s theory today
Author(s) -
Thomas Sören Hoffmann
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
különbség
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2560-158X
pISSN - 1785-7821
DOI - 10.14232/kulonbseg.2011.11.1.17
Subject(s) - hegelianism , absolute (philosophy) , german idealism , idealism , philosophy , epistemology , interpretation (philosophy) , formalism (music) , german philosophy , german , literature , art , musical , linguistics
The paper discusses two key Hegelian concepts: ‘the spirit’ and the remembrance of ‘the absolute.’ The explanation is performed in line with Robert Solomon’s interpretation of Hegel. Solomon writes: ‘[Hegel’s] philosophy is the philosophy of the imagination that encompasses everything: it is the absolute opposite of conceptual formalism.’ The paper argues that Hegel’s concept of ‘the spirit’ is not so much a bizarre conceptual formation of German idealism from two hundred years ago but rather a model of a specific world rich with objects. The absolute spirit commands philosophy, which is thinking rich with content, to demand its own place in the process of everyday cognition.