Customer Reviews

Hegel (Past Masters)

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Probably not very many people will plunge into Hegel on their own, and most of those will quickly plunge back out. As Bryan Magee said, "His writing is almost uniquely obscure -- it positively repels the reader...One can read page after page of Hegel, racking one's brains and thinking: 'What the HELL does he mean?'" Hegel may just be one of those writers best approached through the secondary literature -- at least you will come away with something.

Even if you intend to take the plunge, a preparatory introduction seems like a smart idea. I can't imagine a better warm-up than this little book by Peter Singer. It is a model of clear writing, and I have no doubt that Singer is superb in the classroom. He has taken a good deal of trouble to organize the book so that the reader is carefully shepherded along, step by step, through the ideas and arguments. It gives you the feeling of being in a seminar with a master teacher who really, really wants you to understand the material. This is a true introduction, not a once-over synopsis, a careful job in every sense of the term. Highest recommendation.

If you remember a series published by Oxford in the 1980s called "Oxford Past Masters," this is a revised reprint of Singers original outline in that series (also a good series worth searching for in any old bookstore).

The style is good. I read two chapters on a mountaineering weekend by flashlight and as a result remember his entire idea about the struggle of history being a "striving for the realisation of freedom." His whole definition of Freedom is also adequately layed out in the book.

Although it is asking a lot in 122 pages to lay out Hegel's ideas, he does a good job. He connects Hegel with modern convervatism and you can see where the current obsession in the US Bush admin could come from and there is also the traditional interpretations of Hegal "being stood on his head" as understood by Marx. There is even an interesting section on freewill that has implications for modern marketing techniques.

All in all this is a great book.

Perhaps some readers do not like Hegel nor Hegelian philosophy. However, it was through reading this brief but informative book, that I came to a much better general understanding of Hegel's intriguing views. Singer really does an outstanding job of explaining complex and frustrating texts to the non-philosopher. Singer's writing is very clear and concise.

Peter Singer's clarity is astonishing. This Very Short Introduction is a great read, and so is the one he wrote on Marx. I wish he'd write more of these books, thy're a great way to get to know the basics on these thinkers without spending too much time on it.

Peter Singer is a world class philosopher and moral theorist, albeit one whose main works I find unconvincing. Nor do I regularly read Oxford's "Very Short Introduction" series. But I really enjoyed Singer's short book on Karl Marx (Marx (A Brief Insight)), which is the best overview I know of the thoughts of Das Kapital's author. I may disagree with Singer's philosophy, but he is a clear thinker and talented writer.

Unfortunately, Singer's book on Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) while still well written, is less lucid than his book on Marx. This is mostly due to the difference between the philosophies of Hegel and his those of his later day disciple: Marx's ideas were frequently wrong, often bizarre, and sometimes naïve, but they were, mostly at least, intelligible. Despite Singer's great efforts, most of Hegel's writing remains utterly mysterious, a blur of surreal concepts about the destinies of such ill defined entities as Geist, and concepts (such as 'Freedom') taken far from their regular usage.

Freedom, for example, does not mean the ability to do as you please. Since what you please is conditioned on your genetic makeup and upbringing, it is not 'you' who chooses. Your choice is only free if you cleanse yourself of all these influences and follow only the dictates of pure reason. But this bizarre concept of Freedom is not all that Hegel meant by Freedom. Freedom is also an element of the human condition that is developed throughout history; It is the condition of a society organized along rational principle. Such utopian society is the (or one of the) goals of history (why would anyone think that history has goals is never satisfactory explained), and so Hegel's "Philosophy of History" is a phantasmagorical historical account of various civilizations which purports to show how freedom evolved through the ages until it reaches its pinnacle in the Prussian state. Or, to be entirely fair to Hegel, in a somewhat more liberal version of the Prussian state.

As far as I can tell, Hegel gave no arguments for believing in any of his wild theories. He could sometimes make vaguely plausible critiques of the wild theories of his predecessors, but never marshal any positive evidence for any of his own. His theories are not only wild, they are also Delphic in their meaning; Singer repeatedly admits that he can't make sense of Hegel's work.

And yet, despite his opacity and evidence free fantasizing, or maybe because of them, one can almost find parts and passages of Hegel that are enlightening or interesting. I strongly suspect that these passages are interesting because blurry - they are like abstract art, their meaning is in the eye of the beholder. So unlike Marx's philosophy, Hegel's might mean something because it is meaningless.

On the other hand, Hegel's concept of the "dialectical method" - that ideas come in the form of thesis-antithesis-synthesis, is interesting and worthwhile. Obviously not all ideas develop in this form, and sometimes ideas are presented as a synthesis of previous ideas to make them seem moderate and considered, but the dynamic is apparent.

Singer's book about Hegel is less satisfying than his book on Marx also because Singer doesn't engage as much with Hegel's ideas; He does defend Hegel from the criticism leveled against him by Karl Popper (although he doesn't whitewash him as a previous reviewer implied), he criticizes a few of Hegel's wilder ideas and talks a little about his successors, particularly, of course, Marx. But Singer never tries to assess or contextualize what is still worthwhile of Hegel's thought. He settles for clearing the fog around Hegel's ideas, and paradoxically risks eliminating the only thing that gives them meaning.

The author here presents a short overview of the philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831). As with most of the books in the Very Short Introduction series from Oxford University Press, the presentation is clear, straightforward, and lucid.

Singer's overview briefly cover's Hegel's life, and then turns to major works - Philosophy of History, Philosophy of Right, The Phenomenology of Mind, and Science of Logic. Each of these works is briefly discussed, with the longest discussion being reserved for the Phenomenology. It concludes with a brief look at the Young Hegelians; Karl Marx was one of them, and Hegel was an important influence on the development of Marx's philosophy.

Singer clearly has a strong interest in Marx (he wrote the Very Short Introduction to Marx) and frequent references to Marx and Engels throughout the book reinforce Hegel's influence, if unintended, on the development of Communism.

Recommended as a first foray into the study of Hegel - the original writings of the philosopher are quite difficult, but this volume makes Hegel's thought relatively accessible.

This is about the fifth of the Very Short Introduction series I read. Although I didn't know much about Hegel's works before reading this book, I feel that the author does a good job introducing "Hegel" in a well-balanced, well-rounded way, in that he talks about how Hegel fits into the historical context and about other historical figures who influenced him and who he influenced.

It was helpful for me that the author introduced the "dialectical method" that you hear so often about, in a clear, concise way. Apparently, the author doesn't cover all of Hegel's major works, but overall he does a good job getting the reader interested in Hegel's works enough that he would look into Hegel's works in more detail on subjects that interest him.

I have a couple of the "V. Short Introductions". Reading this book, one should bear in mind that by himself Singer is something of an anti-Hegelian, as well as an expert. His reservations spill over into his follow-up intro to Marx. Compared to Roger Scruton's V. Short Intro.s, Singer is summary and helpful, but after reading, you will remain a beginner. Scruton's intro to Kant is much, much harder, and much more rewarding. I feel like I still don't know anything about Hegel, and I think a slightly deeper introduction, by a more sympathetic commentator, is advisable. If you're as slow as I am, by all means take it out of the library. But put your money somewhere else.

I read Marx. He went on about Hegel. I knew nothing about Hegel so, I wanted a thumbnail of Hegel's ideas. I can't speak to the accuracy of Dr. Singer's work, but this book was VERY well written. He is a great writer- having made Hegel's obscure work quite understandable. Dr. Singer speaks TO the uninitiated student of philosophy without speaking DOWN to him.

I liked how Dr. Singer showed the connections between Hegel, his influences, his detractors and his students. I also liked how he thoroughly explained difficult concepts - again, without talking DOWN to the reader.

You want an introduction to Hegel? Look no further. This is the book for you.

Given the space restrictions, I doubt that many people would be able to explain Hegel's thought in more than a simplistic fashion. I bought the book to see what Singer has to say about Hegel, and in that department I would have liked more commentary. As it stands, it's just a very simple intro to Hegel, one perhaps aimed at beginners.