Phenomenology of Spirit

George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) was a German philosopher and prominent figure in the development of German Idealism. His work influenced a wide range of philosophical thought and politics, including theories in aesthetics, existentialism, epistemology, Marxism, and ontology.

Hegel studied philosophy and theology at a Protestant seminary connected to the University of Tübingen, where he met intellectuals who spurred him to think more deeply about ontology and epistemology, including his roommate Friedrich Schelling. Hegel and his peers discussed the work of Immanuel Kant and the developments of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars. Hegel’s position in historical philosophy places him at the center of influence. His writing builds upon a tradition of epistemological and ontological thought while serving as a shift for future ideas about the role of consciousness in a social context.

Hegel’s systemic philosophy is revealed in pieces across his writing, including Science of Logic, The Philosophy of Right, Enclopaedia of Philosophical Sciences, and others. Hegel’s science of logic is metaphysical, exploring the role of reason in human consciousness. Immanuel Kant argued that reason was limited by contradictions, an idea which served as the foundation for Hegel’s development of dialectics.