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Epilogue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Shlomo Avineri
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Summary

Nothing could better express the prejudices and ignorance connected with Hegelian political philosophy in English-speaking countries than the following statement by Bertrand Russell:

It follows from his metaphysics that true liberty consists in obedience to an arbitrary authority, that free speech is an evil, that absolute monarchy is good, that the Prussian state was the best existing at the time when he wrote, that war is good, and that an international organization for the peaceful settlement of disputes would be a misfortune … What he admired were … order, system, regulation and intensity of governmental control.

Labouring under such enormous prejudices, it is not easy to restore a more balanced view of Hegel's political thought. What we have tried to bring out in our discussion is not only how false such a view as expressed by Russell is, but also that Hegel has to be seen as the first major modern political philosopher who attempted to confront the realities of the modern age. While many among eighteenth-century philosophers undoubtedly helped to shape the emergent modern world, their basically a-historical approach made them incapable of facing the challenges of the new society; and Rousseau, who deeply sensed this inadequacy of the philosophes and perceived the novelty of his age, retreated in disgust from what the new world had to offer to man.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1972

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  • Epilogue
  • Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Book: Hegel's Theory of the Modern State
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139171441.015
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  • Epilogue
  • Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Book: Hegel's Theory of the Modern State
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139171441.015
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Epilogue
  • Shlomo Avineri, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Book: Hegel's Theory of the Modern State
  • Online publication: 05 June 2012
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139171441.015
Available formats
×