{"id":2348,"date":"2023-11-27T15:42:54","date_gmt":"2023-11-27T14:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/faqs\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T18:24:57","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T16:24:57","slug":"faqs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/en\/faqs\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQs*"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eighty-two questions in thirteen rubrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do I start?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Why are Hegel\u2019s texts so hard to read?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Which texts by Hegel are there \u2013 and which is the best way in?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Which edition should I use?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. How do I read a paragraph of this edition?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. How long will it take me to finish reading Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Table of contents of the Encyclopaedia (1830)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Which videos are there as an introduction to Hegel\u2019s philosophy?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Why read Hegel laboriously when AI can explain it?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. If I want to address Hegel by his first name \u2013 which of the three was the one he used?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    How do I read Hegel?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      \n
    1. Do I have to have read Kant first?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Do I need to know the Logic in order to understand the philosophy of right?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Why does Hegel use ordinary words in unusual meanings?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    4. I understand every sentence, but not the thought. Why is that?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    5. Do I have to have understood everything in order to understand anything?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    6. Why does Hegel document nothing and give so few examples?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    7. What does \u201eGrundlinien\u201c mean? And why the subtitle?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
    8. What actually happens when one follows Hegel through \u2013 and how does one understand oneself in doing it?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Hegel and his influence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. For whom was Hegel relevant?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Who was relevant for Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Why is Hegel still relevant today?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. Hegel and German legal scholarship<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Basic concepts: truth, idealism, spirit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          \n
        1. What does Hegel understand by truth?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. How is one to think \u201esubstance\u201c also \u201eas subject\u201c?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. What is idealism \u2013 in the philosophical sense?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. Is Hegel\u2019s philosophy a \u201ephilosophy of identity\u201c?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        5. Is Hegel\u2019s philosophy a \u201ephilosophy of spirit\u201c?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        6. What role does \u201edifference\u201c play in Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        7. Is Hegel\u2019s system hierarchical?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        8. Which conceptual development precedes the philosophy of right?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Dialectic, reason and method<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          1. How does Hegel ground his claims?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          2. Is dialectic real, or only a method of presentation?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          3. Do the moments of a dialectical movement stand over against each other \u2013 dualistically?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          4. Is Hegel\u2019s \u201especulative reason\u201c a higher, even mystical faculty?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          5. Is Hegel\u2019s \u201ereason\u201c that of the solitary thinker?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          6. Has Hegel not simply misunderstood the meaning of the copula \u201eis\u201c?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Religion, nature, the beginning of the system<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
              \n
            1. Was Hegel a Christian, a pantheist or an atheist?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
            2. Is Hegel\u2019s philosophy of nature the Achilles heel of the system?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
            3. Where does a system begin that may presuppose nothing?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              Objections from science and philosophy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              1. Why should an empiricist read Hegel \u2013 and how does he \u201eprove\u201c any of it?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
              2. How does Hegel stand to empirical inquiry?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
              3. Hegel\u2019s concepts are vague, his sentences confused, arguments are missing \u2013 why read this?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
              4. Is it not naive to start from freedom? Brain research shows the brain acts before we decide.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
              5. Is Hegel\u2019s claim to a system across all the sciences not presumptuous?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
              6. Does Hegel underestimate the self-movement of the individual spheres?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
              7. Has hermeneutics made Hegel superfluous?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                Freedom, state and history<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                  \n
                1. Is the will really free, especially if it is supposed to be rational?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                2. Is Hegel an apologist for the \u201etotal state\u201c?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                3. Who, according to Hegel, has to be rational?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                4. Is history in Hegel made by human beings \u2013 or determined?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                5. Is not everything in reality unconscious, irrational drive?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                  Criticism of Hegel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                    \n
                  1. Does this sentence come from Hegel at all?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  2. Was Hegel the Prussian state philosopher?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  3. \u201eWhat is rational is actual\u201c \u2013 does Hegel thereby justify everything that exists?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  4. Did Hegel glorify war?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  5. Is the state God for Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  6. Does Hegel deny the principle of contradiction?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  7. Where does Hegel stand on Judaism?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  8. Does Hegel exclude women from the state?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  9. Was Hegel a racist?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  10. Did the National Socialists invoke Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  11. Is history at an end with Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  12. Did Hegel claim that there could be only seven planets?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  13. Did Marx not finally set Hegel back on his feet?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                    For lawyers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                      \n
                    1. What does Hegel have to say to lawyers?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    2. Is Hegel\u2019s theory of punishment still of use?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    3. Why does property come before human dignity in Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    4. What does Hegel have against the historical school of law?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    5. Why is the state not a contract?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    6. What of Hegel has remained in present-day law?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                      From various standpoints<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                        \n
                      1. If what works is true \u2013 why Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      2. For nihilists everything is meaningless and null \u2013 can Hegel then be ignored?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      3. What do Christians get from Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      4. Do Marxists still need Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      5. What does Hegel hold against liberals?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      6. Is Hegel an ally of conservatives?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      7. What do natural scientists get from Hegel?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      8. Where is the best place for lawyers to start?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      9. What does Hegel say to readers from non-European traditions?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                        Hegel and the present<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                          \n
                        1. Can a machine have spirit?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        2. Is Hegel\u2019s recognition fit for the politics of recognition?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                        3. Does Hegel have anything to say about the ecological crisis?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                          In conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                            \n
                          1. All right. Are there other FAQs on Hegel anywhere?<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                            Eighty-two questions in thirteen rubrics. How do I start? How do I read Hegel? Hegel and his influence Basic concepts: truth, idealism, spirit Dialectic, reason and method Religion, nature, the beginning of the system Objections from science and philosophy Freedom, state and history Criticism of Hegel For lawyers From various standpoints Hegel and the present […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2348","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2348"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":903273,"href":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2348\/revisions\/903273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grundlinien.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}