Hegel suggested our geist learns from tragic history, (the eternal oil painting depicting blood, genocide, slavery, rape and war... for me associated with the social sciences and humanities)... And when we as humans start to treat others with equality and dignity, Hegel suggested that we have reached our ultimate geist; mind and spirit. Everyone's rights then become finite in union through a collective 'understanding'. Amazing philosophy of a predicted future, which Hegel desired. We still have a long way to go because of political irrationality,and human rankism such as racism and classism for example in the 21st Century, but there has been progress in the last 200 years such as pure socialism. Only when I freely relate to a free equal do I recognise my true self. I found myself in Africa many locals treated me like a queen, but I hated that glorification, and told them we are all free equals in life, treat no one as being above or below self, we are the same. I need not to feel like a master because I am 'perceived' to be white and wealthy, for in my own country that is not the case and it should not be anywhere else; geist.
Clarity is appreciated. Thanks for it, you know, "it" being a human, Hegel. Oh well. Top of the mornin' (dropping the "g" to be down home if that works for your southern viewers).
For Hegel, God or Absolute Spirit is the self conscious community of people collectively striving toward an ideal....freedom, justice etc etc. God, in the Christian sense being an omnipotent and unchanging Being, was abhorred by Hegel. He viewed this as self limiting, miserable and naive. This notion of unchanging Being, God, is taken apart in the first section of the Science of Logic.
There's something about Hegel's philosophy that I just don't trust, and that is it seems to generate some kind of Idea of a future Utopia of sorts. An idea of a Utopia historically. The problem with me on Hegel is that he equates ultimately phenomenology with ontology. And when it comes to these kinds of lectures themselves like the one just presented here they present Hegel as the goose that laid the golden egg when it comes to philosophy. Well Soren Kierkegaard didn't think that, and certainly Arthur Schopenhauer did not. And Frederick Nietzsche wasn't a particularly big fan of Hegel.
Can rationality point to its own failures or limitations? If it can, than it is incomplete. If it cannot, is it perfect, or it is also lacking? It is undefined by itself. we have to look empirically to disprove it, but fortunantely Hegel dismissed empirical reality. how lucky is this guy. unlike newton when he faced the three body problem, for him, rationality was not enough. Why?
Germany had Austria & Prussia and it was Prussia and England allied together who defeated napoleon. And Germans created France named after the "Franks" who Charlamagne king of the Franks and first German Empower.... But they needed Rome to handle the religion and society part because Germans are just naturally very good at war at this time but not much else. So hence the "Holy roman empire of the German nations" because of a certain people hatred to this day of Germans the are just putting "holy roman empire" to take away the facts that is was German #1, and #2 it was bigger and lasted longer than rome did. romans have hated us since our great hero Hermann (aka Arminius) destroyed the best legions in the greatest time with a bunch of half naked Germans with wooden weapons! Once we had equal weapons.... We had no equals in war.
