8 - Culture

Summary

To this point our presentation, though highly compressed, has managed to track the main arguments of the first two chapters of the Phenomenology, “Consciousness” and “Self-Consciousness.” As we approach the later, mainly historical chapters of the book, however, the length and complexity of Hegel's discussions, together with the limited aims and length of this book, make even a compressed summary impossible. Since we will not be able to follow the specifics of all of Hegel's historical discussions, I am going to adopt a two-part approach to the remainder of the text in this long chapter. On the one hand, my focus will be on the general issue of what Hegel's turn to history is meant to accomplish. In what sense is his developmental account of Western culture intended to advance the philosophical argument of the first two chapters of the Phenomenology? On the other hand, my answer to that question will include a kind of sketch of the developmental account itself, a more sweeping and general version of the historical narrative that Hegel offers in his text. That sketch will reference several of the best-known discussions of the later parts of the book: Hegel's discussion of Antigone; his account of the transition from ancient Greek religion “in the form of art” to Christian, revealed religion; the descriptions of faith, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution; and, finally, Hegel's discussion of morality.