Throughout the course of human history many individuals have come forth claiming to know the truth about life.  They claim to know why we are here, what our end goals are and where we are ultimately heading.  The philosopher George Wilhelm Hegel (1770-1831) is one of those people. “Freedom is for itself the goal to be achieved and the only goal of Spirit” (Hegel, 22). Hegel saw human development through history which was guided to freedom through Spirit, in doing so he identified the importance of individuals, the role of the State and the role of freedom.

Hegel lived during a period in time which was ripe with violations of freedom and atrocities of war.  But the wars he endured and the sacrifices of freedom he saw were relatively minor when compared to what happened during the 20th century.  Hegel never had knowledge of the atrocities of military dictatorships or the price modern states have had to pay for relative freedom of their citizens.

Without the knowledge of the twentieth century his philosophy seems to be naïve, although it is important to note that Hegel was not trying to predict the future, but trying to explain the past.  In explaining the past and trying to find reason for the ways humans act Hegel created a method of understanding history and in doing so had to ignore the possibilities of the future. Is it fair to criticize Hegel for not knowing the future or making educated guesses about the future? Of course not, but because we are in the 21^st century I must look at Hegel’s philosophy as someone who lives in the 21^st century, just as he looked at history through the eyes of someone who lived in the 19^th century.

“Each of us puts in common his person and his whole power under the supreme direction of the general will” (Rousseau, p. 425). Just as Rousseau argued for the general will of the people and a populace that would respect the right of the general will, Hegel argues for individualism as long as it’s rational and real.  What is rational and real is the State which is guided by the National Spirit.  Once everyone conforms to the will of the State, then the actualization of the power of the Spirit will occur. When reading ‘The Philosophy of History’ one is reminded of Rousseau’s appeal to the general will.  Hegel views individuals in many different ways but for all people it is the State that is to guide the ethics with which they use to make decisions in their daily lives.  It is the State that will guide the individual to achieve greater advances towards Spirit and achieve freedom.

Hegel believed in the collective power of the human race and thought the only reliable action of individuals was selfishness. “It is always possible to ascribe changes, revolutions, and the destruction of legitimate conditions to the ineptitudes, and especially to the stupidity and evil passions of men” (Hegel, p. 57). If men were not study, inept or evil they would not want to stray away from the course of the National Spirit.  Rather they would want to abide by the Spirit and follow its lead. The development of the human race is not a direct line towards unity and realization, but rather a bumpy course that tends to advance and then recede.  As the Spirit acts within the thoughts of individuals it can advance towards unity and freedom but it can also create the world historical individual.

During Hegel’s time the most prominent world historical figure would have been Napoleon, who as Karl Marx described, was the culmination of the clash of the thesis (French Monarchy) and the antithesis (French Revolution).  Napoleon led France to fight in many wars and his troops were accused of committing many atrocities against the Spanish, Egyptians, Italians, Ottomans, Austrians, Germans, Russians and many other people. According to Hegel he is considered an important figure in the development of humanity, if not the most important figure in the development of the world.  No man in Hegel’s time had changed Europe more than Napoleon.  He led the French army to victories in Egypt, Italy, Germany, Spain, Prussia, and Russia and in many other parts of the world.  He imposed a modern civil code on the rest of Europe that promoted property rights, created a Confederation of the Rhineland that eventually led to a German nation-state and led a Republic against monarchies.

According to Hegel, the Spirit which was embodied within Napoleon made progress towards achieving the ultimate aim which is freedom and unity.  In France during this time many other people shared similar disdain for the French monarchy and the Catholic Church. Without the support of the people Napoleon would not have succeeded in implementing his civil code throughout Europe.  Napoleon was there at the right time and had his ideas on how to act, even if they were brutish.

Hegel went to great lengths to describe the qualities to look for in a person who is a world-historical individual; they must have an end goal and be willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal.  It seems that the goal doesn’t have to be known to the individual, because the Spirit will be guiding them towards that goal. Hegel said, “A world-historical individual is not so circumspect as to want this, that and the other, and to take account of everything; rather, he commits himself unreservedly to one purpose alone.  So it happens that such individuals treat other interests, even sacred ones, in a casual way—a mode of conduct certainly open to moral censure.  But as great a figure must necessarily trample on many an innocent flower, crushing much that get in his way” (Hegel, p. 35).

Napoleon’s one main objective throughout the entirety of his military career was to install his civil code throughout the lands he conquered.  He eradicated feudalism from most of Europe and granted land rights to the lower classes.  He accomplished much by establishing his civil code, but he had to maintain a state of war in order to gain the land and subjects needed for this revolution.

Napoleon’s actions were undoubtedly morally questionable, but Hegel wouldn’t waste the time discussing the ethical issues surrounding Napoleon’s conquest. The Spirit made the decision that his conquest was necessary to achieve the ultimate goal. As Hegel explained, Napoleon was an essential figure in the development of the world. Without Napoleon, it can be argued, Europe may not have entered into the system of nation-states that now dominates the international structure. To achieve what humanity has achieved would not have been possible without the actions of a man like Napoleon.

But, it is also clear that Napoleon could not have achieved great change without the help of the State of France behind him. “The state is the Idea of Spirit in the externalized form of human will and its freedom.  It is in the state, therefore, that historical change occurs essentially, and the elements of the idea are reflected in the state as various political principles” (Hegel, p. 50).  The state had transformed itself many times throughout the course of history.  In ancient time the sovereign ruler was god-like and infallible while in modern times the sovereign ruler could be viewed as the will of the people exercised through elected representatives of the people.  “The so-called representative system of government is the logical form to which we link our image of a free system, and this link had become a firm prejudice.  In it, the people are separated from the government.  But there is something malicious in this antithesis: is it trick of bad will, suggesting that the people are the totality of the state after all” (Hegel, p. 51).

In a representative form of government the people are separate from the government but are still considered to be the guiding force behind the existence of that government.  Hegel is not writing to describe the methods of governance throughout history, but rather he is using it as a benchmark to see how developed we have become.

In despotism or monarchy it is the freedom of the individual that is suppressed in favor of security for the state.  But in a representative form of government, in theory, it is the freedom of the individual that strengthens the state. Not only in matters concerning security, but also arts, philosophy, religion, and the social sciences.  It is important to note that throughout Hegel’s writings he is concerned with the nature of human development and where this development will lead.  In terms of progression, the representative ideal of the state is the closest thing we have to a state that embodies the idea of freedom.

Similar to the progression of state governments throughout history is the development of freedom.  In ancient times people were unaware that they had unalienable rights like property, life, liberty and happiness.  Many philosophers have argued that we have either more or less rights, but for the most part these are the major ones.  As the idea of freedom developed the actuality of freedom was maintained in the hands of a few. One had to own property, have money or have power in order to have freedom.  What freedom they had was not freedom in the same sense as what Hegel described as freedom.  Freedom is the progression of awareness of the actuality of freedom.  You are not free unless you understand that you are free, it was the Germans, according to Hegel, who first realized that every human being is free.  This freedom is more a unification of the wisdom of the spirit, so that one does not want to contradict the will of the Spirit. This unification of the spirit is a unification of the wills of the state, religion, philosophy, art, music and history.  Once all of these forces and the people are unified under the spirit then the pinnacle of freedom has been reached.

For Hegel the pinnacle is a world in which every person will be willingly working to achieve the same goals.  His belief in human progress led him to argue that Germany during his lifetime was the pinnacle of that progress.  Because Germany was, and still is, influential throughout Europe and the World it is easy to see why one would think this.  Today, a greater understanding of human progress is understood and we realize that we don’t know and cant fathom what the culmination of human progress will achieve.  Will it be the actualization of Freedom as Hegel describes, or a nuclear holocaust reminiscent of the fears of the cold war?  The defining answer is that we don’t know.

“Earlier we set up two elements for consideration: the first was the Idea of Freedom as the absolute end-goal; the second was the means to that end, the subjective aspect in knowing and willing, with all their vitality, movement and activity.  Then we went on to see the state as the ethical whole and the reality of freedom, and hence as the objective unity of both those preceding elements” (Hegel, p.51). The development of mankind has progressed to a pinnacle of enlightenment which is present within the spirit of humanity. This spirit, with ideas and reality, are the essence of human thought, emotion and activity.  During periods of great historical change the spirit uses individuals, the state and the idea of freedom to propel humanity in various directions, which always lead towards the end goal, which is the actualization of freedom.

Related posts:

1. Preserve Freedom and “slit our wrists.”
2. Money Bomb Toward Freedom!
3. Existentialism and Being
4. The General Will
5. Wittgenstein