History and Truth in Hegel's Phenomenology [Hardcover]

Merold Westphal (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 039100557X | ISBN-13: 978-0391005570 | Publication Date: June 1978

This detailed interpretation of Hegel's "Phenomenology of Spirit" seeks to show that the unity of this classic work may be found in the integration of its transcendental and sociological-historical themes. Merold Westphal argues that the key to this unity lies in Hegel's radical discovery that transcendental subjectivity has a social history and that absolute knowledge is a historically conditioned and essentially collective or social event.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Merold Westphal is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University. He is author of God, Guilt, and Death: An Existential Phenomenology of Religion and Suspicion and Faith: The Religious Uses of Modern Atheism and is coeditor (with Martin J. Matusik [hacheck over s, acute accent over i] of Kierkegaard in Post/Modernity.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 233 pages
• Publisher: Humanities Pr (June 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039100557X
• ISBN-13: 978-0391005570
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,859,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Uneven handling of difficult material, August 12, 2000

By 

Douglas Doepke (Claremont, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: History and Truth in Hegel's Phenomenology, Third Edition (Paperback)

Not much detail is presented in Westphal's book, nor are the contours of dialectical development laid out very clearly. A basic outline of the Phenomenology is followed, but without much attention to the crucial transitions between dialectical stages. The section on consciousness, (i.e. sense experience, perception, and understanding), is adequate; the section on self-consciousness, (i.e. master-slave, unhappy consciouness), is the weakest and murkiest.

Probably, the best section concerns the latter stages of spiritual progression, (i.e. religion, absolute knowledge). Westphal discusses developments here in a general context of Christian theology, showing how Christian themes are taken up and reproduced in philosophical terms. A traditional issue arises at this point: Has Hegel abandoned phenomenology (description) for Christian metaphysics (transcendancy). The author presents a thoroughly secularized interpretation of of spirit's fulfillment and Absolute Knowledge. Spirit's ultimate return to itself transpires on the this side of the temporal divide instead of the transcendent side. It's an historical and temporal event in which spirit recognizes itself in others in a mutual display of love and recognition. It's not a transcendent occurrence in which exteriority is somehow overcome. Just how this mutual recognition also includes recognition of nature as its own ontological creation is not clear to me from Westphal's text; yet some such must be present if Absolute Knowledge is to truly take place.

In the author's opinion, Hegel's error lies not in a departure from the phenomenological method, since correctly understood in its secularized interpretation, no metaphysics is involved. Rather, Hegel's error lies in the naive belief that this final spiritual stage of description was actually being realized in 19th century Prussia! In short, his mistake was not philosophical but historical. Westphal's reading of Hegel works fine as an interpretation congenial to modern secular readers.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great second half, November 7, 2010

By 

barryb - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: History and Truth in Hegel's Phenomenology, Third Edition (Paperback)

this book truly exists from page 80 to 220. that's when the author starts talking about the transition from the transcendental realm of correspondence to the historical and on., page 80 should have been page one. there's been tons written on recognition so i wanted this book specifically for "history and truth". i got it after page 80. he's knowledgeable and clear and systematic in his approach. but just realize that you're buying the second half of the book with regard to history and truth. i'm glad i got it; that's still a good number of pages on the subject.