Hegel and the Problem of the History of Philosophy: The Logical Structure of Exemplarity

by Thomas Raysmith

Overview

Drawing on the work of major philosophers in 18th and 19th-century German idealism, Thomas Raysmith critically examines G. W. F. Hegel's justification for the claim that philosophy has a history.

While Kant regarded philosophy as ahistorical, Hegel considered it to be a discipline that is necessarily historical, and elaborated a 'logical structure' that was supposed to allow it to have a history. Calling this structure, which Hegel took to be the fundamental structure of thought itself, 'the structure of exemplarity', Raysmith presents it as a dynamic reciprocity between universality, particularity and singularity. He provides a historical reconstruction of the shifting conceptions of philosophy from Kant, through J. G. Fichte and F. W. J. Schelling, to Hegel, and offers a systematic analysis of Hegel's Science of Logic based on a close, critical reading.

Offering a compelling and novel reading of Hegel's thought, Hegel and the Problem of the History of Philosophy is a groundbreaking work for students and scholars of German idealism and the history of philosophy more broadly.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350423763
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/20/2025
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Thomas Raysmith is Lecturer in Philosophy at Bard College Berlin, Germany.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Abbreviations and notes
Introduction

I. Hegel and the problem of the history of philosophy
II. Hegel's conception of philosophy
III. Hegel's proposed solution to the problem of the history of philosophy
IV. Logic, metaphysics, history, and the future
V. A criticism of Hegel's solution to the problem of the history of philosophy
VI. Hegel's history of philosophy
VII. The structure of this bookt

Chapter 1. Kant's ahistorical system of principles
I. Philosophy as ahistorical
II. The two sources of cognition
III. The TD's central line of argument
IV. The first step of the proof
V. The second step of the proof
VI. The schemata of the categories and a criticism of Kant's system

Chapter 2. Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre
I. Introduction
II. What is philosophy?
III. Idealism and dogmatism
IV. The method of the Wissenschaftslehre
V. A history of philosophy
VI. The philosopher's deduction: beginnings
VII. A problem and an objection

Chapter 3. Schelling's Identitätsphilosophie
I. Introduction
II. Identitätsphilosophie
III. Schelling's conception of the history of philosophy
IV. Reduplication and seeing as
V. The inadequacy of Schelling's Identitätsphilosophie
VI. Concluding remarks: the logic of the unseen and unnamed

Chapter 4. Hegel's Logic: from beginning to actuality
I. Introduction
II. Beginning the science of logic: issues
III. The beginning of the science of logic: from pure being to determinate being
IV. The movement from essence to its appearing
V. The essential relation and the absolute
VI. Actuality
VII. The philosophies of Spinoza and Schelling as essential and necessary

Chapter 5. Hegel's conception of the fundamental structure of everything: the Idea.
I. The relation of reciprocity and the genesis of the Concept
II. The Concept and subjectivity
III. The original partition of judgement
IV. Samples and the structure of exemplarity
V. Syllogism
VI. Objectivity and the Idea as life
VII. The Idea of cognition to the absolute Idea
VIII. The absolute Idea and method

IX. Exit

Conclusion
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

In this highly intelligent, well-informed discussion, Thomas Raysmith persuasively argues that Hegel succeeds in solving a problem that Kant, Fichte and Schelling could not: the problem of demonstrating that although philosophy has a history, it is nonetheless capable of discovering eternal truths.” —Sally Sedgwick, Professor of Philosophy, Boston University, USA

“This is a brilliantly conceived book, executed with impressive scholarship and deep insights into the “structure of exemplarity” that Raysmith sees as lying at the core of Hegel's logic and the answer that Hegel offers to the perennial problem of the relationship between philosophy and history of philosophy. It will be essential reading for all those interested in Hegel's philosophy, its place in German idealism, and this perennial problem, more generally.” —Michael Beaney, Regius Chair of Logic, University of Aberdeen, UK

“How can philosophy express eternal truths and yet have a history, reflecting the culture of its time? This is the type of circle-squaring problem that confronts all who approach Hegel's philosophy seriously. In this compelling, philosophically sophisticated, and often surprising book, Thomas Raysmith confronts this question head-on.” —Paul Redding, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, University of Sydney, Australia

From the Publisher