The philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel is certainly one of the richest and most complex philosophical endeavours in the history of Western thought. Hegelian scholars have either tried to make sense of its individual parts through detailed analyses, or to offer a comprehensive interpretation of the system as a whole. Attempts to combine these two approaches have often appealed to some key-concepts, such as historicity, recognition, dialectic, and Aufhebung, or to a combination of these concepts, in order to develop consistent interpretations of the different components of the system. This book lays the foundation for a similar interpretive project by focusing on Hegel’s concept of recollection (Erinnerung). This collection of essays provides a detailed examination of the role played by recollection within the different spheres of the system, while at the same time acknowledging the specific character of its different instances. This undertaking is guided by the idea that the relationship between the different instances examined here constitutes a privileged key to the interpretation of Hegel’s philosophy and allows a deeper understanding of some of its essential speculative moments.

Donald Phillip Verene has advanced a completely new reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. He shows that the philosophic meaning of this work depends as much on Hegel's use of metaphor and image as it does on Hegel's dialectical and discursive descriptions of various stages of consciousness. The focus is on Hegel's concept of recollection (Erinnerung). Consciousness confronts itself with the aim of achieving absolute knowing. This is the first commentary to regard metaphor, irony, and memory as keys to the understanding of Hegel's basic philosophical position.

Donald Phillip Verene has advanced a completely new reading of Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. He shows that the philosophic meaning of this work depends as much on Hegel's use of metaphor and image as it does on Hegel's dialectical and discursive descriptions of various stages of consciousness. The focus is on Hegel's concept of recollection (Erinnerung). Consciousness confronts itself with the aim of achieving absolute knowing. This is the first commentary to regard metaphor, irony, and memory as keys to the understanding of Hegel's basic philosophical position.

This reconstruction of the work of 'dialectical memory' in Hegel raises the fundamental question of the principle that presides on the articulation of history and indicates in Hegel's philosophy two alternative models of conceiving history: one that grounds history on 'ethical memory,' the other that sees justice as the moving principle of history.

This book explores Hegel's response to the French Revolutionary Terror and its impact on Germany. Like many of his contemporaries, Hegel was struck by the seeming parallel between the political upheaval in France and the intellectual upheaval in German thought inaugurated by the Protestant Reformation and brought to a climax by German Idealism. He believed, as did many others, that a political revolution would be unnecessary in Germany, because this intellectual "revolution" would preempt it. Mourning Sickness provides a new reading of these ideas in the light of contemporary theories of historical trauma. It explores the ways in which major historical events are experienced vicariously and the fantasies we use to make sense of them. Rebecca Comay brings Hegel into relation with the most burning contemporary discussions around catastrophe, revolution, and the role of media in shaping our political experience. The book will be of interest to readers of philosophy, literature, cultural studies, history, political theory, and memory studies.

Reputed to be one of the most difficult yet rewarding works of philosophical literature, Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit has long been in need of an introduction for English readers. Without using jargon or technical terms, Donald Phillip Verene provides that introduction, guiding the reader through Hegel's text as a whole and offering a way to grasp the major insights and sections of Hegel's text without oversimplifying its narrative. A glossary of sixty of Hegel's terms, discussed in both their original German and English equivalents, is included.

In this collection of essays, leading scholars provide a variety of models from which to view the unique relationship between the bodies of thought of Heidegger and Hegel, revealing how these philosophers offer ways of thinking historically that understand such thinking not merely as extensions and elaborations of a given paradigm but as actively engaged in the critical and transformative revisioning of the world. Beginning at the point where Heidegger encountered Hegel, this volume of provocative essays addresses the respective philosophies of the two men. Leading scholars provide a variety of models from which to view the unique relationship between the bodies of thought of Heidegger and Hegel: bodies of thought that cannot be taken as two objects to be compared, contrasted, and finally evaluated but that must be viewed in dynamic terms, as a relationship in which self-transformations lead to mutual transformations and vice versa.