The Philosophy of History is perhaps the most widely read of Hegel's work, and the philosophy of history is widely read because it is relatively easy to read, and ideas such as "the cunning of reason", "world historical figures", and "rational historical course" have long been familiar to people and are quoted by different people. Nevertheless, today, even these ideas often become evidence of the worthlessness of Hegel's Philosophy of History. Those who have been thoroughly baptized by modern scientism and positivism feel that there is no need to think about Hegel's Philosophy of History, but only "facts" are enough. It is felt that in the face of "facts", the absurdity of Hegel's Philosophy of History is self-evident.
For Hegel, world history is the process by which the spirit develops itself in time. Spirit is a single spirit shared by mankind, expressed in everything that man has created with their language, heart, and culture. History is the process of spiritual self-development, and it is also the process of the world moving towards self-consciousness. The goal of history is the full development of the spirit and a full sense of self. This full sense of self, that is, the consciousness of freedom, is the culmination of the development of the universe. Freedom is not arbitrary, but acts according to rational standards. History, therefore, is the process by which our rational potential is gradually realized into freedom, and history is a story of rational freedom.
In the view of positivists, this dominant idea of the Philosophy of History cannot be confirmed in history at all. History is full of contingent and irrational elements, and it is pure nonsense to say that it is the development of the spirit itself. Hegel, however, was not unaware of the tyranny and irrationality of history. He never fantasized that history was a bright and beautiful process. But he argues that the irrationality external to history cannot negate its intrinsic rational purpose. Rather, the irrationality of history is necessary to achieve the ultimate goal of cosmic rationality. The spirit of the world is the cunning use of the irrational motives of the "world historical individual" to achieve its rational goals. All historical contingencies can ultimately be explained in the necessity of reason.
However, this metaphysical teleological explanation is fatally general. How does the spirit dominate the "world history individuals" to make them act as they do? How can we justify the goal of history (rational) and that the goal of joining history is not yet fully presented? And if the goal of history has been presented, on what basis is it reasonable? The answer can only be justified by the results of individual actions. But it is precisely by virtue of the reasonable rational purposes that we assume that we can judge which results are reasonable. There is clearly a problem of circular argumentation here. Hegel's philosophy of history, like all metaphysical teleology, cannot avoid this circular argument.
But the problem is not purely theoretical. When talking about history, it is difficult not to relate one's own historical experience, even to Hegel himself. After all the most tragic historical events of the last century, it is difficult to believe Hegel's rationalist view of history, just as fewer and fewer people believe in theosophy. It is even more difficult to believe that all the suffering and sacrifices suffered by human beings are necessary and inevitable costs of freedom. Our civilization is becoming more and more rationalized at the micro level, and almost absurd and crazy at the macro level, which makes Hegel's rationalist view of history even more implausible. Hegel's philosophy of history has a distinctly eschatological color, and once the goal of spiritual self-development has been attained, history is fulfilled; thereafter, the history of experience continues, but the possibilities of the spirit are exhausted. Although not so long ago this eschatology has been used to explain recent history and to confirm this doctrine with recent history, for most people this eschatology is still very suspicious, because it is difficult to believe that it can digest the variables and uncertainties of history that are in principle infinite, which makes it impossible to distinguish between the fate of Christian eschatology (it is originally a variant of it).
Nevertheless, Hegel's Philosophy of History does not lose its permanent value. A work with obvious errors is not necessarily a classic worth reading repeatedly. Hegel's Philosophy of History is one such classic. Of course, if you read the classics with some formula or prejudice in advance, you can only get what the formula or prejudice gives, not the infinite wisdom contained in the classics.
The American philosopher Friedrich pointed out in the preface to the English translation of the Philosophy of History that the Philosophy of History is the core and center of Hegel's philosophy and is a work with the most profound influence. Hegel has always regarded thought and history as the same process, and his own philosophy is the product of history and must be understood historically. Without the context of history, Hegel's philosophy and its meaning cannot be truly understood.
The German philosopher Levitte said that Hegel's whole system was basically conceived in historical terms. No other philosophy had done this before him. Before Hegel, there was no philosopher who, like Hegel, tried to grasp the nature of history in its entirety. It was Hegel who was the first to propose the concept of "world history". But Hegel is not to write history, but to write about the philosophy of history. Although he has even been accused of being "historical positivism," he is by no means trying to empirically describe specific historical processes, but to provide a framework for a comprehensive understanding of human history.
But Hegel never used this as an excuse to ignore basic historical facts, to weave a philosophy of history at will, or to distort and reorganize historical facts with systematic dogmas. In fact, as Gans pointed out in his preface to the first edition of the Philosophy of History: "In fact one of the principal virtues of the book is that, though it is very speculatively vigorous, it also pays due attention to 'empirical things' and 'phenomenal things'; it excludes subjective 'reasoning' but does not force all historical records into a formulaic model; it grasps and expresses that in the course of logical development and the apparently loose and disorderly line of the historical narrative'. ideas', but without allowing such steps to infringe on the historical narrative. Thus the so-called innate method (which in fact means 'writing' history without historical facts) is quite different from the method expressed in this book. The author of this book has no intention of creating history as a God, but only from a mortal person engaged in the discussion of the 'history' that has been created, the rational and conceptual 'history'. ”
Hegel has always been critical of the "abstract" way of thinking prevalent in modern times, and even believes that the French Revolution is the product of this "abstractity". He always insisted that the truth is concrete, tried to let the facts themselves speak, and never imposed ideas on the facts. Perhaps the most criticized aspect of Hegel's Philosophy of History in its factual statements is his description of Eastern civilization. In fact, in preparing this part of the Philosophy of History, Hegel still read the relevant materials, and studied their development country after country, but the reading and digestion were not sufficient, and the Western understanding of the East in his time was generally not enough. Coupled with the general prejudice of the West against Eastern culture at that time, Hegel was not exempt from vulgarity. Thus, Hegel's errors in expounding Eastern culture are inevitable. But because of this, we cannot conclude that Hegel arbitrarily misinterpreted the facts. The problem is that the "facts" that Hegel sees are inherently problematic, and drawing problematic conclusions based on problematic facts is a mistake that anyone can make. But this is not the same thing as deliberately ignoring the facts and misinterpreting the facts.
Hegel is a master of dialectical thought, and he and his thought itself should be treated dialectically. To treat Hegel in a metaphysical, intellectual way, apart from foolishly stating that he is superior to Hegel, learns nothing useful from him. Hegel was a systemic philosopher, but unlike other systemic philosophers, his system was a heterogeneous system, not a homogeneous one. That is, his system itself is a dialectical structure, full of inner tension. Each point of view can only be truly grasped if it is considered in conjunction with its opposing point of view. Each point of view itself contains elements of its own alienation and negation. The philosophy of history itself is no exception.
For example, Hegel emphasized the necessity and law of historical development, which he saw as a series and process of events that were meaningful and intrinsically linked; but it was by no means a process that could be deduced from a simple formula. Although it is true that the depths of history imply its own laws or logics, this law or logic is precisely through the contingency of history. Thus, Hegel does not despise the role of contingency in history more than any individual philosopher or thinker of history. However, attaching importance to contingency is not to describe history as a noisy and disorganized picture, but to grasp the internal causes and processes of history as a whole. This cannot be achieved not only by sacrificing contingency, but also by understanding contingency.
In some of the self-proclaimed descendants of Hegel, history is a regular, phased process of progress (evolution), a one-way homogeneous process. But in Hegel's view, history is a heterogeneous process full of internal fractures. Acknowledging the rupture of history allowed Hegel to avoid the prejudices of European cultural centrism and to recognize the differences between other peoples and national cultures; to admit that the modern and ancient are not a single line, but that there are differences in normative forms. Different historical stages are actually different worlds, although they are all different expressions of the spirit. Hegel never simply formulated the course of history. In this respect, the Philosophy of History is distinctly different from the philosophies of history of later ideologies.
Although Hegel believes that history is a rational process, this does not mean that it is a smooth road to a smooth road, a record of the triumphant march of reason. Rather, it is a process fraught with struggle. For as the subject of history and the agent of reason, man does not act according to a mechanical pattern, as the 18th-century Enlightenment thinkers understood. Man is free, but freedom, as the essence of man, is not an innate right or nature, but must be obtained through struggle and overcoming obstacles. Moreover, these obstacles are the product of human activity. So Hegel says that the spirit is fighting itself, overcoming itself as its most difficult obstacle to deal with. In short, freedom as a historical end is innate in form, but its content is defined by man's struggle for survival. In Hegel's own words, it is the spirit that contains within itself all the stages and factors of history.
The history of mankind is not only the history of spiritual self-completion, but also the history of spiritual self-denial. The world spirit achieves its various stages of purpose by creating a form of life for the so-called "people of world history". Once the potential of this nation has been fully realized in the creation of a certain way of life, its historical role is over. At the same time, the result of creation becomes a shackle, a poison that leads to the eventual demise of the nation.
"The life of a people bears a fruit, for the purpose of national activity is to implement its principles. Yet this fruit does not return to the bosom of the nation which produced it; on the contrary, it becomes the poison of that nation, for it has an infinite desire for such a poison: once this poison is introduced, the nation perishes, but at the same time a new principle occurs. (Philosophy of History, Chinese Edition, p. 79)
That is to say, any stage of historical development contains the seeds of its own destruction, and it is necessary to deny itself. This seed of self-destruction, if nothing else, is the creative principle of this stage. The obstacles that man has to overcome are not repulsive things, but precisely the result of their own efforts! The result is the emergence of a new style of life, representing another stage of historical development.
But this is not an easy and pleasant process of metabolism, but a process of constant destruction and denial. In Hegel's view, thought itself has an essential alienating force capable of destroying the fruits of all thought. Therefore, the history of mankind is actually the history of human alienation. Human beings are constrained by the civilization they have created, diverted by the creations in front of them, forgetting their long-term goals and thinking that freedom has been gained. Thus, human beings will think, and always try to make, a culture that has been established alive. The history of mankind is the history of man's alienation from his true interests, but at the same time the history of his realization.
This is the profound place that is characteristic of Hegel! Although he also wanted to narrate the consummation of spiritual development, his genius's realistic sensitivity always implied an alternative element to his narrative. The charm of Hegel's writings is also here. Hegel did believe that the spirit of freedom was realized in his time, to be precise, in the Prussian state at that time. In fact, he had another view of the "old world" at that time. In The Philosophy of History, he borrows Napoleon's words: "This aging Europa makes me bored," implicitly expressing his true view of the present situation in Europe and regretting that what is happening in the new world is only an "echo" of the old world. In a letter to one of his students, his denial of modern Europe is evident, which he considers to have become a prison in which only two kinds of people still seem to be able to move freely, one is a jailer, and the other is that a place has been found in this prison to protect oneself and be indisputable.
That is to say, in this prison of modernity, freedom is only the freedom of the bystander. This is clearly the precursor to Weber's "cold iron box." Hegel pinned his hopes on the United States and Russia, hoping that they would develop a new possibility. Whether or not Hegel's hopes are dashed, his complex view of modern Europe is enough to cause us to change our preconceptions about him.
The Philosophy of History alone cannot naturally give us a comprehensive understanding of Hegel's thought, but it is true that it can read from it a heterogeneous Hegel, a Hegel who struggles with himself, if read with his heart. This is certainly much more valuable than some of the superficial conclusions of the Philosophy of History, which people talk about.
Author Zhang Rulun / Originally published in China Reading News, No. 21, 2001, p. 8
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