The Middle Ages in the Light of Hegel's Philosophy of History
Abstract
Chapter IINTRODUCTIONThe philosophy of Hegel is fundamentally a philosophy of becoming. Hegel saw all of reality as a process which was the gradual unfolding of the infinite potential of Being itself. The movement of this overall development is seen as following the dialectical process which Hegel discovers in thought. Thus all of reality bears witness to a universal Reason through the nature of its own movement in becoming. This universal Reason is not a mere mechanical spring blindly keeping the universe in motion. It is rather a self-directing force striving to perfect itself by fulfilling its potential. The whole of reality is seen in this context as a revelation of Reason. Each phase in history achieves a further unfolding of Reason, and Reason realizes itself in the objective order to the extent that the content of its manifestation is taken up into the world of thought by self-consciousness, in the form of thinking man.
Subject Area
Philosophy
Recommended Citation
O'Regan, Patrick J, "The Middle Ages in the Light of Hegel's Philosophy of History" (1960). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI28673358.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI28673358
