George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel

George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) believed that the World was created in a incomplete and ever changing way. For one to understand Hegel, they must know “The Dialectical Method.” This is explained in the class handout on page 85, “According to Hegel, to understand all, we must understand the laws of reason, for the real is rational and the rational is real. Now the laws which govern things for Hegel are not static and inert. Rather are they dynamic, changing, evolutionary and even contradictory.” According to Hegel’s process, three things need to occur to keep the World spinning. His dialectical process cancels conflict people may have. It preserves the truth and keeps the best information and adds new information. Finally it simply shows a higher truth. Furthermore, he says that World works in a distinct way. In the beginning, society was just individuals. As time progressed those individual became tribes which then became a nation. Currently, we are living at the nation level and the next level to come will be a World government. Put into a perspective, Hegel thought the world was forever changing, as evidenced by his dialectical process.

Hegel argues that if our mind and universe are the process then the universe must just be someone else’s thought process. There follows the condition of absolute mind, the state in which mind rises above all the limitations of nature and institutions. The absolute mind is subjected to itself alone in art, religion, and philosophy. An example of the absolute mind at work could be a desk, with the desk being an “idea” of an absolute mind.

Hegel has a very strong reasoning that deals with mind and matter. He is a believer in monism, which is the reduction of processes, structures, and even concepts. Monism reduces matter to a single governing principle which is the theoretical explanation of everything in terms of one principle. In Hegel’s case the one principal is “mind.” He says that although important, the actual matter used to make something is not as important as the idea or mathematics used to make that “thing” possible. Looking at a building one will see various walls, roofs, window, etc. Yes, these examples of matter are essential to the building, but the real idea is the mind that made the building. The mind is what universalizes everything. Every building and every painting needs a mind. Hegel does recognize matter, but the key to understanding Hegel is that he all about the mind and how it unifies the World.

Even more backing of Hegel’s dialectical process at work is evident in today’s modern society. Today numerous examples come up in everyday life. Example need two things to function and need to two things to make them what they are. Many situations of two things coming together actually make something new. Like water, hydrogen and oxygen are completely different to the visual observer and one would not see any relationships unless looked at through the means of chemistry. Another simpler idea is a magnet. Each and every home magnet has a positive and negative hemisphere. Showing the two thing make a whole. Hegel’s process can be found throughout history and even in the present.

Hegel brought a new perspective on religion. He said that although it may be great for some, religion is just the feeling of awe and wonder. Furthermore, Hegel stated that mythological creatures in society simple help us to give and to solve reason why thing happen. He also said that we must be able to understand other religions in order to the society to flourish. Hegel says that in our own political evolution the synthesis of science and religion combines elements from both. And that a political system was very close to a constitutional monarchy which included elements of Christianity and also had elements of the German ideas. So for Hegel, religion and science will eventually become compatible.