The Spirit and Its Letter: Traces of Rhetoric in Hegel's Philosophy of Bildung

In this book, John H. Smith investigates the influences of classical and humanistic rhetoric on Hegel's theory and practice of philosophical representation. Smith focuses on Hegel's concept of Bildung (roughly, education, development, or formation), which occupies a central position in his philosophy. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the author demonstrates that Hegel's philosophy of Bildung depends on his own Bildung as a writer of philosophy-a formative education that followed the pri...