Hegel's Absolute: An Introduction to Reading the Phenomenology of Spirit

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H E G E L ’ S A B S O L U T E An Introduction to Reading the Phenomenology of Spirit Donald Phillip Verene State University of New York Press Published by State University of New York Press, Albany© 2007 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, address State University of New York Press, 194 Washington Avenue, Suite 305, Albany, NY 12210-2384 Production by Diane Ganeles Marketing by Anne M. Valentine Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Verene, Donald Phillip, 1937– Hegel's absolute : an introduction to reading The phenomenology of spirit / Donald Phillip Verene. p. cm. — (SUNY series in Hegelian studies) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-6963-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-13: 978-0-7914-6964-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770–1831. Phänomenologie des Geistes. 2. Spirit. 3. Consciousness. 4. Truth. 5. Phenomenology. I. Title. II. Series. B2929.V46 2007 193—dc22 2006003850 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 A quite special, though purely negative science, general phenomenology (phaenomenologia generalis), seems to be presupposed by metaphysics. —Kant to Lambert, September 2, 1770 Hegel had the stuff of one of the greatest humorists among philosophers; Socrates is the only other one who had a similar method. —Bertolt Brecht, Flüchtlingsgespräche, 1941 ...