Foundations of Hegel's Social Theory

Foundations of Hegel's Social Theory PDF Author: Frederick NEUHOUSER
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674041453
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
This study examines the philosophical foundations of Hegel's social theory by articulating the normative standards at work in his claim that the central social institutions of the modern era are rational or good.

The Pathologies of Individual Freedom

The Pathologies of Individual Freedom PDF Author: Axel Honneth
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 140083502X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 95

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Book Description
This is a penetrating reinterpretation and defense of Hegel's social theory as an alternative to reigning liberal notions of social justice. The eminent German philosopher Axel Honneth rereads Hegel's Philosophy of Right to show how it diagnoses the pathologies of the overcommitment to individual freedom that Honneth says underlies the ideas of Rawls and Habermas alike. Honneth argues that Hegel's theory contains an account of the psychological damage caused by placing too much emphasis on personal and moral freedom. Although these freedoms are crucial to the achievement of justice, they are insufficient and in themselves leave people vulnerable to loneliness, emptiness, and depression. Hegel argues that people must also find their freedom or "self-realization" through shared projects. Such projects involve the three institutions of ethical life--family, civil society, and the state--and provide the arena of a crucial third kind of freedom, which Honneth calls "communicative" freedom. A society is just only if it gives all of its members sufficient and equal opportunity to realize communicative freedom as well as personal and moral freedom.

Hegel’s Theory of Normativity

Hegel’s Theory of Normativity PDF Author: Kevin Thompson
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810139944
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
Hegel’s Elements of the Philosophy of Right offers an innovative and important account of normativity, yet the theory set forth there rests on philosophical foundations that have remained largely obscure. In Hegel’s Theory of Normativity, Kevin Thompson proposes an interpretation of the foundations that underlie Hegel’s theory: its method of justification, its concept of freedom, and its account of right. Thompson shows how the systematic character of Hegel’s project together with the metaphysical commitments that follow from its method are essential to secure this theory against the challenges of skepticism and to understand its distinctive contribution to questions regarding normative justification, practical agency, social ontology, and the nature of critique.

Freedom's Right

Freedom's Right PDF Author: Axel Honneth
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0745680062
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
The theory of justice is one of the most intensely debated areas of contemporary philosophy. Most theories of justice, however, have only attained their high level of justification at great cost. By focusing on purely normative, abstract principles, they become detached from the sphere that constitutes their “field of application” - namely, social reality. Axel Honneth proposes a different approach. He seeks to derive the currently definitive criteria of social justice directly from the normative claims that have developed within Western liberal democratic societies. These criteria and these claims together make up what he terms “democratic ethical life”: a system of morally legitimate norms that are not only legally anchored, but also institutionally established. Honneth justifies this far-reaching endeavour by demonstrating that all essential spheres of action in Western societies share a single feature, as they all claim to realize a specific aspect of individual freedom. In the spirit of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right and guided by the theory of recognition, Honneth shows how principles of individual freedom are generated which constitute the standard of justice in various concrete social spheres: personal relationships, economic activity in the market, and the political public sphere. Honneth seeks thereby to realize a very ambitious aim: to renew the theory of justice as an analysis of society.

Hegel's Social Philosophy

Hegel's Social Philosophy PDF Author: Michael O. Hardimon
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521429146
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
Hegel's social theory is designed to reconcile the individual with the modern social world. The concept of reconciliation is explored in detail along with Hegel's views on the relationship between individuality and social membership, as well as on the family, civil society and the state.

Reason and Revolution

Reason and Revolution PDF Author: Herbert Marcuse
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134971257
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
This classic book is Marcuse's masterful interpretation of Hegel's philosophy and the influence it has had on European political thought from the French Revolution to the present day. Marcuse brilliantly illuminates the implications of Hegel's ideas with later developments in European thought, particularily with Marxist theory.

Hegel's Theory of Responsibility

Hegel's Theory of Responsibility PDF Author: Mark Alznauer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107078121
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
The first book-length treatment of a central concept in Hegel's practical philosophy - the theory of responsibility. This theory is both original and radical in its emphasis on the role and importance of social and historical conditions as a context for our actions.

Hegel's Ontology of Power

Hegel's Ontology of Power PDF Author: Arash Abazari
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110889030X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
Recent attempts to revitalize Hegel's social and political philosophy have tended to be doubly constrained: firstly, by their focus on Hegel's Philosophy of Right; and secondly, by their broadly liberal interpretive framework. Challenging that trend, Arash Abazari shows that the locus of Hegel's genuine critical social theory is to be sought in his ontology – specifically in the 'logic of essence' of the Science of Logic. Mobilizing ideas from Marx and Adorno, Abazari unveils the hidden critical import of Hegel's logic. He argues that social domination in capitalism obtains by virtue of the illusion of equality and freedom; shows how relations of opposition underlie the seeming pluralism in capitalism; and elaborates on the deepest ground of domination, i.e. the totality of capitalist social relations. Overall, his book demonstrates that Hegel's logic can and should be read politically.

Hegel for Social Movements

Hegel for Social Movements PDF Author: Andy Blunden
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004395849
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
Hegel for Social Movements by Andy Blunden is an introduction to the reading of Hegel for social change activists, focusing a non-metaphysical reading of the Logic and the Philosophy of Right.

The Natural Law Foundations of Modern Social Theory

The Natural Law Foundations of Modern Social Theory PDF Author: Daniel Chernilo
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781107462786
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
After several decades in which it became a prime target for critique, universalism remains one of the most important issues in social and political thought. Daniel Chernilo reassesses the universalistic orientation of social theory and explains its origins in natural law theory, using an impressive array of classical and contemporary sources that include, among others, Jürgen Habermas, Karl Löwith, Leo Strauss, Weber, Marx, Hegel, Rousseau and Hobbes. 'The Natural Law Foundations of Modern Social Theory' challenges previous accounts of the rise of social theory, recovers a strong idea of humanity and revisits conventional arguments on sociology's relationship to modernity, the Enlightenment and natural law. It reconnects social theory to its scientific and philosophical roots, its descriptive and normative tasks and its historical and systematic planes. Chernilo's defence of universalism for contemporary social theory will surely engage students of sociology, political theory and moral philosophy alike.