Phenomenology of Spirit [Paperback]

G. W. F. Hegel (Author), A. V. Miller (Translator), J. N. Findlay (Foreword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0198245971 | ISBN-13: 978-0198245971 | Publication Date: February 1, 1979

This brilliant study of the stages in the mind's necessary progress from immediate sense-consciousness to the position of a scientific philosophy includes an introductory essay and a paragraph-by-paragraph analysis of the text to help the reader understand this most difficult and most influential of Hegel's works.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, German (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

G.W.F. Hegel (1770-1831) is one of the great figures in the history of Western thought, and the most important philosopher of his time.

Product Details

• Paperback: 595 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 1, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198245971
• ISBN-13: 978-0198245971
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

63 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Transformative Text in the History of Philosophy, December 26, 2003

By 

John Russon (Toronto ON Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phenomenology of Spirit (Paperback)

It doesn't make any sense to rate this work at anything less than 5 stars, since it's one of the most influential works of the last 200 years. It was written in 1806, and it is Hegel's attempt to demonstrate the systematic way in which human experience develops, from its simplest roots in sensory life to its highest fulfilment in scientific, political and religious experience. This was a work that took Kant's revolutionary insights and produced a new philosophy of the human person that prefigured the developments of Marx, Freud, existentialism, deconstruction and so on. Human experience is here understood in a rigorously anti-reductive way: Hegel will not allow meaningful dimensions of human experience to be ignored in the way that they typically are in too-facile theories of experience (like sense-data empiricism, physicalist reductionism, possessive individualism, etc.). Experience is also understood dynamically: because of its own internal reason, experience develops into progressively more complex forms. It is a masterful work, and it takes years of serious study to master this book. It is a very difficult book to work with, because it is written in a very daunting manner, which means it is not realistic to imagine reading it outside of a university course in which someone can lead you into the reading of Hegel's phenomenology. This translation by Miller is also imperfect. This translation was meant as an improvement to the older Baillie translation but, while this one is marginally more "literal," it does not do as good a job as Baillie at communicating the sense of what's being said. If you can only have one translation, this is probably the better choice, but if you are studying the book seriously, I highly recommend hunting down a copy of Baillie's translation as well.

81 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Work of Philosophy, January 23, 2001

By 

[e-mail] (PARISFRANCE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phenomenology of Spirit (Paperback)

For over 180 years students have complained that Hegel's best-known book of philosophy, the PHENOMENOLOGY OF MIND (alias PHENOMENOLOGY OF SPIRIT), is too difficult to read. A few have tried to summarize Hegel's book, and often their summaries were longer than the original, and just as difficult to read.

The PHENOMENOLOGY OF MIND is a study of appearances, images and illusions throughout the history of human consciousness. More specifically, Hegel presents the evolution of consciousness. Hegel traces the evolution of consciousness from savage and barbaric forms. Hegel's aim was to set forth a philosophical system so comprehensive that it would encompass the ideas of his predecessors and create a conceptual framework in terms of which both the past and future could be philosophically understood. Such an aim would require nothing short of a full account of reality itself. Thus, Hegel conceived the subject matter of philosophy to be reality as a whole. This reality, or the total developmental process of everything that is, he referred to as the Absolute, or Absolute Spirit. According to Hegel, the task of philosophy is to chart the development of Absolute Spirit. This involves (1) making clear the internal rational structure of the Absolute; (2) demonstrating the manner in which the Absolute manifests itself in nature and human history; and (3) explicating the teleological nature of the Absolute, that is, showing the end or purpose toward which the Absolute is directed. The logic that governs this developmental process is dialectic. The dialectical method involves the notion that movement, or process, or progress, is the result of the conflict of opposites. Traditionally, this dimension of Hegel's thought has been analyzed in terms of the categories of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. The goal of the dialectical cosmic process can be most clearly understood at the level of reason. As finite reason progresses in understanding, the Absolute progresses toward full self-knowledge. Indeed, the Absolute comes to know itself through the human mind's increased understanding of reality, or the Absolute. Hegel analyzed this human progression in understanding in terms of three levels: art, religion, and philosophy.

At the time of Hegel's death, he was the most prominent philosopher in Germany. His views were widely taught, and his students were highly regarded. His followers soon divided into right-wing and left-wing Hegelians. The extensive and diverse impact of Hegel's ideas on subsequent philosophy is evidence of the remarkable range and the extraordinary depth of his thought, this book is a masterpiece!

87 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lesser intellects need not apply, February 26, 2006

By 

Me "Genius is creativity in the extreme" (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Phenomenology of Spirit (Paperback)

Let me start by addressing some misconceptions you'll see as you roam around these reviews.
First of all, there are a couple of low reviews that refer to Hegel as being "anti-reason," "anti-truth," a socialist, a collectivist, etc. These are written by Objectivists - followers of Ayn Rand. Ayn Rand has about the same relationship to serious philosophy as McDonalds does to good cooking. She hated Hegel (as all who consciously or unconsciously know they do not have sufficient intelligence to understand him), but never quite seemed to understand him. No surprise - he's hard.
Which is the second point. This is not an easy book at all. That's why it's most often assigned to graduate students. Even undergrads can easily get a philosophy degree without ever touching this book. It's bloody hard. This is because, well, its ideas are radical and difficult, and because Hegel is a careful philosopher.
It is not, and this is my third point, because Hegel is a bad writer. Quite the opposite. He's a great writer. The fact of the matter is, though, that his subject matter is not exactly a page-turner. But, I mean, what do you expect. You're reading academic philosophy. There are a handful of academic books that are both worthwhile and fun to read, and that's just a fact of life. Hegel, however, is quite clear - indeed, believe it or not, his style is didactical! (As another reviewer pointed out). Unfortunately, it's all too common on Amazon to bash academic books because they're (supposedly) hard, obscure, or poorly written. The fact of the matter is that these books are not for everyone. They're for specialists and scholars (or enlightened auto-didacts), and are written in a language that is appropriately technical to that task. You don't go and bash medical and scientific books for being too hard for you. Give philosophy a break, and recognize this book as what it is - one of the most important contributions to a scholarly field ever