Description

This volume is intended as an introduction to Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit, his first, perhaps greatest work, arguably the most important philosophical treatise of the nineteenth century. Although one of the greatest of all philosophical classics, it is a dark book that yields its secrets only slowly. In preparing this volume, I have tried to strike a balance between detail, intelligibility, and finding a way into the work as a whole. The resultant compromise deals with the entire text while omitting much of the detail that is properly the focus, often the main focus, of scholars. I have not tried to say more than absolutely needs to be said to help readers find a way into the book. The scholarly apparatus is limited to indicating just enough of Hegel's other writings and of the secondary literature to aid readers interested in pursuing various issues in more detail. The discussion mainly follows Hegel's exposition, paragraph by paragraph, and, when it appears to be necessary, sentence by sentence. My aim is to help readers who are not Hegel scholars, although they may have considerable knowledge of philosophy, as well as others who may have only a general philosophical background to read the text of the Phenomenology with comprehension. For the most part I have refrained from criticizing Hegel's theory, not because it is beyond criticism, but because my aim here is limited to introducing it.