Hegel: A Biography

One of the founders of modern philosophical thought Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) has gained the reputation of being one of the most abstruse and impenetrable of thinkers. This major biography of Hegel offers not only a complete account of the life, but also a perspicuous overview of the key philosophical concepts in Hegel’s work in a style that will be accessible to professionals and non-professionals alike. Terry Pinkard situates Hegel firmly in the historical context of his times. The story of that life is of an ambitious, powerful thinker living in a period of great tumult dominated by the figure of Napoleon. The Hegel who emerges from this account is a complex, fascinating figure of European modernity, who offers us a still compelling examination of that new world born out of the political, industrial, social, and scientific revolutions of his period.

• Offers a full account of life and a clear overview of his philosophical ideas • Style is lucid so that even a non-specialist can be introduced to this most difficult of philosophers • The historical context is fully presented

Preface; Acknowledgements; Notes on the text; 1. Hegel’s formation in Old Württemberg; 2. The Protestant seminary in Tübingen; 3. From Berne to Frankfurt to Jena: failed projects and fresh starts; 4. Texts and drafts: Hegel’s path to the Phenomenology from Frankfurt to Jena; 5. The Phenomenology of Spirit: Hegel finds his voice; 6. Life in transition: from Jena to Bamberg; 7. Nuremberg respectability; 8. From the Phenomenology to the ‘System’: Hegel’s Logic; 9. Heidelberg: coming into focus; 10. Berlin: reform and repression at the focal point (1818–1821); 11. Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: freedom, history, and the modern European state; 12. Consolidation: Berlin, Brussels, Vienna (1821–1824); 13. Assertion: Berlin, Paris (1824–1827); 14. Thinking through modern life: nature, religion, art, and the absolute; 15. Home: 1827–1831; Notes; Chronology of Hegel’s life; Hegel’s works cited; Works cited; Index.