A study of Hegel's conception of progress

• Main Author: Sadock, Margaret A.
• Published: University of Aberdeen 1996
• Subjects: 100; Philosophy
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.319856

The overall aim of this thesis is to critically evaluate the development of the idea of progress in Hegel's philosophy. A general examination of the idea of progress was required to fully explicate Hegel's own treatment of this idea. The emergence of the idea of progress in the Early Theological Writings was then discussed. The discussion of these writings served to clarify Hegel's mature conception of the idea of progress. Hegel's treatment of the idea of progress in the Phenomenology of Spirit was then investigated. This investigation led into a discussion of how Hegel viewed the relation between philosophy and history. Several interpretations of the Phenomenology were then examined in order to further elucidate this text. Some of the difficulties associated with the adoption of a Hegelian view of history were highlighted by examining Francis Fukuyama's formulation of a contemporary Hegelian interpretation of history. Hegel's most complete discussion of the idea of progress is to be found in the Lectures on the Philosophy of World History. These lectures were used both to define Hegel's mature vision of the philosophy of history and to examine the moral implications of looking upon history from a philosophical viewpoint.