In Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit the rise and development of humanistic endeavor, beginning with the ancient Greeks and rekindled by the Renaissance, attained its highest form of expression. Though generally thought of as a great but challenging work in philosophy, the Phenomenology presents us with a path, a Bildungsweg, for discovering and learning to methodically develop our essential humanity by making us aware of how we become human. Hegel demonstrates decisively how each individual creates and develops his or her own life through active involvement in the world.

philosophy of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel represents the culmination of

Hegel’s reputation and legacy in the English-speaking world has been Until the 1960s and 70s, only mediocre translations have generally existed of his works, making it difficult to understand Also, because his thought is so deeply intertwined with the history of Western philosophy, recognizing the power and contributions of his work almost requires

The result is that while for the past 50 years a veritable renaissance of Hegelian scholarship has flourished in the English-speaking world, with growing numbers of philosophers recognizing the profundity of his insights, there are also academics, in particular British thinkers, who continue Bertrand Russell’s tradition of purporting to understand Hegel but to interpret him in a highly negative and unflattering manner. This British tradition of misinterpreting and criticizing Hegel emphasize