Book Description

This accessible and highly readable book is the first full-lengthbiography of Hegel to be published since the largely outdatedtreatments of the nineteenth century. Althaus draws on newhistorical material and scholarly sources about the life and timesof this most enigmatic and influential of modern philosophers. Hepaints a living portrait of a thinker whose personality was morecomplex than is often imagined, and shows that Hegel's relation tohis revolutionary times was also more ambiguous than is usuallyaccepted. Althaus presents a broad chronological narrative of Hegel'sdevelopment from his early theological studies in Tubingen and theassociated unpublished writings, profoundly critical of theestablished religious orthodoxies. He traces Hegel's years ofphilosophical apprenticeship with Schelling in Jena as he struggledfor an independent intellectual position, up to the crowning periodof influence and success in Berlin where Hegel appeared as theadvocate of the modern Prussian state. Althaus tells a vivid storyof Hegel's life and his intellectual and personal crises, drawinggenerously on the philosopher's own words from his extensivecorrespondence. His central role in the cultural and political lifeof the time is illuminated by the impressions and responses of hiscontemporaries, such as Schelling, Schleiermacher and Goethe. This panoramic introduction to Hegel's life, work and times will bea valuable resource for scholars, students and anyone interested inthis towering figure of philosophy.