Peter Singer (1) (1946–)

Singer has given an account of problems which form an important part, but not nearly all, of Hegel's philosophy. There is, understandably, a lot of subject matter not considered. Having heard a lot about Hegel's preference for abstruse language, I was gladdened by how clear his arguments often are, and it might be primarily due to a sensible way of approaching Hegel. Ideas are developed in a linear fashion with few presuppositions about the reader's knowledge of jargon.

To the effect on an outline: we start off with Hegel's idea of history as the development of a certain kind of consciousness, that which deals with freedom, and then examines related doctrines such as Hegel's ideal society, and man's place in it as an individual. Adequate historical context is provided for most relevant discourse, both historical and philosophical (if a distinction can be made). Then, a further relevant problem is considered: what is it that drives the progress of consciousness of freedom.

All of Hegel's philosophy is interconnected, and often times a question that a reader may face a reader while reading, say, Philosophy of Right, will have been answered or at least treated in his other works.

Hegel's coded language is, in a few places, difficult to decipher, and while we can follow the overarching reasoning whilst keeping the goal of his arguments in mind, we may never know what he was trying to profess in these few sections. As impartial as Singer seems to have stayed throughout this book, I would have appreciated examples of practical Hegelian reasoning in domains other than Marxism. Hegelian dialectic is treated, albeit at the very end, after one has carried out Hegelian reasoning. A short section is devoted to the events following Hegel's death.

I think this stands as an adequate introductory guide to Hegel. An objection one can raise is with what often seems to be a softening of Hegel's ideas in order to make them seem inoffensive to our sensibilities. I don't know if the liberties Singer has taken are allowable or do to more to distort Hegel since I haven't read Hegel yet.… (altro)