Routledge Philosophy GuideBook to Hegel and the Phenomenology of Spirit

by Robert Stern

The Phenomenology of Spirit is Hegel's most important and famous work. It is essential to understanding Hegel's philosophical system and why he remains a major figure in Western Philosophy.
This GuideBook introduces and assesses:
* Hegel's life and the background to the Phenomenology of Spirit
* the ideas and the text of the Phenomenology of Spirit
* the continuing importance of Hegel's work to philosophy.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory, Academic, Reference

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 22, 2001

Reviews

[Melika Khoshnezhad · Rating 5 out of 5]

دومین باری‌ بود که این کتاب رو می‌خوندم. بخش دیالکتیک ابژه و دیالکتیک سوژه رو از خود پدیدارشناسی خوندم،‌ ولی مابقی رو صرفاً از این تفسیر ازش اطلاعاتی دارم. پدیدارشناسی ترجمه‌ی خوبی به فارسی نداره و کتاب به‌شدت دشوار و سخت‌فهمی هم هست، بنابراین خوندن تفسیری در کنارش به‌نظرم قطعاً لازمه و این یکی از بهترین تفسیرهاست. روانه ولی ساده‌سازی بیش‌ازحد نشده که جان کلام کشته شه.
اما درباره‌ی خود هگل، من شدیداً مخالف این باور هگل‌م که جهان ساختاری سراسر عقلانی داره و فقط کافیه ما به شیوه‌ی درست بهش نگاه کنیم تا ساختار عقلانی‌ش برامون قابل‌فهم بشه و پس از فهمش احساس در خانه بودن بکنیم. این نقدیه که خیلی از فیلسوفا و متفکرا هم بهش کردن. اما بااین‌حال، بسیار زیاد براش احترام قائل‌ام. نه برای دیدگاه افراطی عقل‌محورش، بلکه برای دیالکتیک. به‌نظرم دیالکتیک هگل یکی از زیباترین و عمیق‌ترین و درست‌ترین تحلیل‌ها از روندهای تاریخی در هر حوزه‌ایه.

[Alina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first tried reading Hegel's Phenomenology straight up; this was futile. I then looked for a summary of Hegel's main arguments, to prepare for the original, and found Stern's text. While I cannot evaluate how well Stern captures Hegel, since I haven't yet read the original, I can comment on some of its features. Stern's writing is well-structured and readable, and he touches on most of the topics in Hegel's work; but he leaves unclear what Hegel's actual ideas are.

The first chapter provides a good layout of Hegel's motivation and the structure of the Phenomenology. Hegel thinks that the major problem modernity faces is an alienation from the world. In a post-Enlightenment context, we can no longer regard our values as being absolute, or having objective grounding; rather, our values seem to be based on mere subjective attitudes. We are alienated from a sense of our values as being absolute, as if they were a part of nature itself, and are stranded in our modern world of contingent values. For Hegel, we moderns seek to feel "at home in the world" again. Hegel thinks the solution is to discover a worldview (or conceptual framework regarding the nature of reality, subjectivity, and knowledge) that permits the world to show up as rational.

The Phenomenology is structured by presenting one worldview after another; each corresponds with a phase in human history, in which this worldview was more dominant (e.g. "observing reason" is a worldview that corresponded with the Enlightenment). Hegel shows that each worldview is arrived at from the need to reconcile certain problems, which all stem from the opposition between particulars and universals. He shows that while each worldview can solve certain problems, their principles lead to new paradoxes. The need to resolve those leads to the next worldview. Worldviews progress toward the final one, according to which we realize that reality in itself is rationally structured, and ultimate knowledge is thus conceptual/rational, and possible; and we realize the idea of noumena, or a world-in-itself that is fundamentally knowable, is an illusion.

I was very eager to read more after this introductory chapter. But I was disappointed. Stern always presents summaries of different interpretations of Hegel's arguments, and then his evaluation of which competitor is most plausible. But sometimes he does this in a way in which the context of a particular argument, and its conclusion, are not clear. Also the progression between certain chapters is left unclear, and later chapters seem to be totally unrelated. It seems that Stern's primary concern is to summarize the main positions in the literature on Hegel interpretations, rather than to clarify the Phenomenology to the reader.

Stern concludes the book with asking which parts of the Phenomenology still have relevance for us today; his only response is that it certainly does have relevance, without explaining which parts do and why. This was very unsatisfying. In the end, I am left uncertain about Hegel's main points and conclusions. What does it really mean for reality-in-itself to be rational? What is the nature of his idealism? What is the fundamental tension between particularity and universality, and what is Hegel's solution to this? If anyone can help me on this major questions that drive Hegel's work, or provide suggestions on other secondary literature that is clearer, please let me know!

[Sara Pourhassani · Rating 4 out of 5]

ترجمه عالی بود. درک خوبی از فلسفه‌ی هگل در کتاب پدیدارشناسی روح به دست آوردم.

[Lee Downen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stern is a very helpful guide through Hegel's Phenomenology . He provides concise commentary, includes clear outlines of Hegel's text, and introduces readers to the main traditions of interpretation (e.g., Left Hegelians, French existentialists, the Frankfurt School, American pragmatists). For my first pass through the Phenomenology , I read the relevant chapter in Stern, read Hegel, and then read the corresponding chapter in Peter Kalkavage's The Logic of Desire (a longer yet still introductory work on Hegel's PoS ). Stern helped me to get my bearings before entering Hegel's labyrinth. I'm sure that I'll consult his book again (at least for the outlines) the next time I read the Phenomenology .

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

If one is going to tackle Hegel, this may be the way to do it. I enjoyed this companion guide as I was not interested in reading the difficult and dated text of Hegel. There are a few excellent analogies and quotations from other philosophers which do a trtemendously good job of explaining the phenomenology of spirit. I now have a decent grip on this much of Hegel's philosophy, why it is useful, and why it is outdated.

[Bahman Bahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

پدیدارشناسی روح هگل بی‌تردید هم از حیث سبک و هم از حیث محتوای فلسفی یکی از بزرگ‌ترین آثار فلسفی تاریخ است. هرچند در دستنوشته‌های فلسفی دوران ینای هگل نخستین اشاره‌ها به روش دیالکتیکی به چشم می‌خورد، هگل در پدیدارشناسی برای نخستین بار از نسخه‌ای کمال‌یافته و پخته از چگونگی به کارگیری روش دیالکتیکی‌اش رونمایی می‌کند. این کتاب داستان سفر روح از بدوی‌ترین و نازل‌ترین منزلگاهش، یعنی یقین حسی، تا والاترین مرتبه آگاهی، یعنی دانش مطلق، را روایت می‌کند. هر مرحله روح پس از سرخوشی کاذب اولیه، به‌ناگاه تعارضات درونی خود را درمی‌یابد و به نوعی نبرد با این تعارضات، که در صدد نفی موقعیت آرام و رضایتمندانه او هستند، برمی‌آید و پس از تقلای بسیار، به دلیل ناتوانی‌اش در فائق آمدن بر این تعارضات، عرصه را واگذار می‌کند و به درون نوعی ناامیدی فرومی‌غلتد. در نتیجه، روح بدون آن‌که تعارضات را به کناری بزند و همچنین بدون آن‌که موضع قبلی‌اش را به‌کلی دور بیندازد، می‌کوشد تا موضعی نوین بر ویرانه‌های موضع قبلی بنا کند و همان حرکت مشهور رفع یا آوفهبونگ هگلی را محقق می‌سازد که کارکردی دوگانه دارد و می‌توان آن را «نفی در عین حفظ» نامید.

[r0b · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I [Stern] hope to have shown, giving the Phenomenology an introductory role to the Logic conceived of as a dialectical investigation of categories shows it to be more than just a collection of observations on philosophical history, or on political and social theory, or on the problems of modernity: because I see no reason why the Logic interpreted this way should be ‘dead’ to us, I have not felt afraid to associate these two texts directly with one another.

...a historicist critique of any work has its own dangers: for, as has so often happened with Hegel, despite the repeated suggestion that his time has irrevocably passed (by Marxist materialists, by post-modernists, or by analytic philosophers, for example), he has repeatedly returned to speak to us once again, in ways that were previously unimagined. It seems likely, therefore, that as long as Hegel’s problems remain our problems, it is to the living present rather than the dead past that the Phenomenology will continue to belong.

[Alireza Saramad]

تا صفحه ۱۴۰ خواندم. بنظرم کتاب بسیار خوبی است. ساده و روان توضیح میدهد. از متن اصلی هم نقل قول های طولانی و قابل فهم می اورد. کروشه های راهگشای مترجمان آب حیاتند. اما پدیدارشناسی روح هگل در این برهه از زندگیم بدرد نمیخورد. کتابی که تازه مدخل هگل است، که تازه آقامون میخواهد ما را قانع کند که به حرف هایش باید گوش دهیم، که وظیفه ای انگیزشی بر دوش این کتاب عظیم است. که هر کسی هر چه گفته شعر بوده و پایان فلسفه ایز کامینگ.

کتاب بایزر ترجمه مسعود آقا شاید بیشتر به درد هدفم میخورد. به امید روزی که بخوانمش.

[Seyed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best text to help understand the PoS I've found. I recommend reading the PoS first, section by section, then read this guidebook. Then go back to the specific paragraphs this guidebook mentions and reread them in the text.

[Payam Ranjbaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

امر آشنا، به‌طور کلی، دقیقاً از آن‌جا که آشناست، شناخته‌شده نیست. معمول‌ترین شیوه‌ای که خودمان و دیگران را فریب می‌دهیم، آشنا فرض کردن چیزی و به همان اندازه تن دادن به آن است. چنین دانشی، با تمام دلایل موافق و مخالفش، هیچ‌گاه گامی به پیش نمی‌نهد و خود نمی‌داند که چرا؟

[Michael Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a few interesting chapters in this book: Master/Slave Dialectic, Stoics, Unhappy Consciousness, and Religion. The conclusion too, when it explains the influence Hegel had on Marx, existentialism and psychoanalysis.

[O · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t enjoy Hegel, but if you have to read the Phenomenology of Spirit, this is a good way to get through it. This is a very helpful guide through a difficult book.

[Verurteilt · Rating 5 out of 5]

کتابی عالی، همراه با ترجمه ای درخشان؛ البته به نظرم باید بیش از یک بار خوانده شود.

[Colin Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're reading this, just know that I could never have done it without you Robbie! Cheers mate.

[Uriah Todoroff · Rating 3 out of 5]

extremely basic, but can't deny that it was helpful. the section on the final section of the PoS was far too abridged, and there should have been a section treating the Preface.

[Ahmed Obaid · Rating 5 out of 5]

صعب، ويحتاج الى اعادة قراءة، والى قراءات كثيرة عن هيجل، النهر الذي لا ينضب.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book accomplished its goal: It made Hegel marginally comprehensible for the lay person, for people like me without a strong understanding of the history of Western philosophy.

[نرگس مولایی · Rating 5 out of 5]

بهتر از ترجمه‌‌‌های دیگه‌است

[Jack W · Rating 2 out of 5]

pretty dry stuff

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this extensively to help me get through Hegel's Phenomenology but I think he could be way clearer. I walk away feeling very puzzled at times, but on the whole it has been quite useful.

[Effie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the introduction part of the book, even though i had difficulties translating into Greek.

[Dave Gaughran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good intro to this book.

[M.J. Mandoki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-have book to understand Hegel's work. It makes it much easier to understand The Phenomenology of Spirit, if a person reads this book first!