Hegel Flashcards
What is idealism?
The dimension of philosophy that asserts the importance of consciousness
What is reality?
A mental construct that precedes the material/physical organization of society
Where did idealism emerge from?
Germany
Why was idealism developed?
It emerged as a response to the state’s repression of criticism of the prevailing authority structure. It was also a way to advance knowledge.
What did Kant and Hegel try to achieve?
Attempted to reconcile the distinction between the world of the ideas or metaphysics and the natural/empirical world
What is the definition of phenonmenon?
appearances in the natural/empirical world
What is the definition of noumenon?
The things-in-themselves that are independent of the empirical; nonempirical, not visible. They exist in form only.
What is Kant’s perspective on how we can describe the world?
We cannot describe the world as it is we can only describe it how we perceive it
How can we perceive the world?
Kant believes we perceive the empirical world through aprior categories
What is the definition of aprior categories?
They are categories of thought that exist at the level of consciousness. They are universal and preexist humans and provide a basis of human understanding.
How can we use aprior categories to describe and understand the world?
The human mind is organized by the aprior categories and thus provides the potential to understand the material world.
How is knowledge possible for Kant?
Studies reason through aprior categories and you must observe the empirical world to test and establish universal laws.
What does Kant believe about the human mind in relation to knowledge?
He believes the human mind craves knowledge and attempts to go outside of itself.
In what way does the mind try to go outside of itself?
The mind could create illusions that distort reality
Why are these distortions being created in the mind?
Because humans are part rational and part sensual
If we can control the sensual impulses created by the human mind’s distortions, what can we ensure?
Morality
How can we control the sensual impulses?
Society should develop a moral code to ensure universal harmony and good will.
What should we ask ourselves to develop a moral code?
Should my actions become universal law, governing not merely my actions but the actions of all individuals in similar circumstances?
As a result of society establishing moral codes what happens to the empirical world?
The empirical world becomes the basis of judging the correctness of an action
What were Kant’s contributions to modern positivism?
1.) Kant argued that positivistic explanations existed prior to discovering them in the empirical world.
2.) Aprior categories make it possible to establish scientific laws
3.) Aprior categories make it possible to do empirical research, which makes it possible to establish scientific laws
4.) Kant revealed that people distort the empirical world
Why are aprior categories possible to establish into scientific laws?
Because everyone has access to them and perceive the empirical world through these categories.
Why is it possible to do empirical research?
Because all individuals perceive and understand the universe in the same way.
What ideas did Hegel reject?
He rejected enlightenment philosophy, Kant’s idea that we could not know aprior categories, and that positivism is the basis of knowledge
What was enlightenment philosophy?
The idea that Reason in history was a positive and impersonal force
What did Hegel believe positivism relied on?
Empiricism
What made Hegel an idealist?
He believed that forms of understanding emerge from society (human construct)
What did Hegel call the human constructs and what are they characterized as?
Mediative categories and it is when the mind could know itself and gives meaning to empirical events
Why is knowledge universalistic?
Knowledge represents the general ideas and interests of society
What is the relationship between spirit and history?
They are closely intertwined, universalistic, and shared knowledge
What does Hegel believe should be present in order for society to exist?
Constraints because the existence of society always constrains people’s actions (through social structures or prevailing norms)
Are societal constraints always recognized?
No, except in extreme cases
How can someone become free from constraints?
Only when they are conscious of how society effects their behavior. Self understanding entails how society affects us as members of society
What is the relationship between being unconscious and freedom?
If we remain unconscious of how society effects us then we can never change society in ways that enhance freedom.
How do Kant and Hegel differ in their views about universal knowledge?
Kant: Universal knowledge = aprior categories and they are permanent and unknowable
Hegel: Universal knowledge = spirit and is changing and knowable
In Hegel’s opinion how is knowledge changing?
It is cumulative and progressive, which means it is moving towards higher degrees of freedom
What is the definition of absolute spirit?
the possibility of a total understanding of our relationship to society
What does Hegel recognize about absolute spirit? And how should we think about absolute spirit?
Absolute spirit is not possible because society is always changing and absolute spirit should be viewed as a goal humans should pursue
What is the defintion of alienation?
The lack of self-understanding, we are always alienated to some degree
What are the obstacles of achieving self understanding?
There are limits that prevent people from understanding their understanding to society
What is the source of alienation?
Humanly constructed categories of thought are always imperfect and imprecise
Why are humanly constructed categories of thought always imperfect?
Society is always changing, high powered groups define mediative categories that benefit them, and individuals are unique and may not conform to the mediative categories
What could conceal how mediative categories are created?
Ideology
What is the definition of mediative categories?
Categories of thought with reference to reality construction that organize human experience.
What do socially constructed mediative categories do for society?
They place limits on what we can think and it is how we organize society
What is the social structure?
Informal and formal means of social organization; the interrelated positions and roles that result in a pattern of behavior
What are some examples of informal and formal structures?
Informal: ideology, norms, values
Formal: written laws and rules
What can we do for society in regards to constraint and absolute spirit?
We can overcome dimensions of society that unnecessarily constrain individuals by organizing politically and changing the social structure to achieve higher degrees of emanicpation/freedom
What are the parts of the dialectic process?
Mediation, Negation, and Reimmediation
What is mediation?
It is the means that individuals reflect on themselves as members of society to assess whether the current mediative categories capture their relationship to society
What is negation?
Core concept. The dissolution of mediative categories that are alienating
What is reimmediation?
The capacity of people to create more precise abstractions to recognize existing mediative categories as humanly produced
What are the steps to the dialectic process?
1.) Identify existing socially constructed mediative categories that constrain individuals
2.) Create more precise and liberating mediative categories
3.) Change the social structure that constrains the individuals
4.) Produce a higher degree of individual freedom (negation of existing categories plus reimmediation)
What another term for the dialectic-historical process?
Negation of the negation
What is the definition of reification?
A humanly produced abstraction (idea) that is treated as concrete or natural things
What is the result of reificating mediative categories?
We place limits on our capacity to develop as individuals
How can you overcome reification?
Create a new mediative category that is less constraining and allow the historical process to dissolve the old mediative category
What is Hegel’s definition of alienation?
When you self understanding does not conform to society’s definitions
What is the root of alienation for Hegel?
The institutionalization of modes of thought make it impossible for people to recognize themselves as free, self-consciously, self-determining social actors.
What are institutionalized modes of thought?
Mediative categories that are incorporated into social institutions
What is the definition of unhappy consciousness?
What the alienated individual feels, experiencing themselves as incomplete or divided against themselves
What is the primary obstacle to overcoming alienation in modern society?
Civil society
What is civil society?
Social and economic relationships where the rights of egoistic atomized individuals are held to be absolute (utilitarian ideology)
In other words how do people think in civil societies?
People tend to think of themselves as autonomous but they are not. This is why alienation exists here because they do not understand that society has control over them.
What are government officials (the state) more likely to focus on?
Society as a whole and not the particular interest of groups or classes
What did Hegel say was the central problem for political sociology?
How to balance the needs of the modern state with the needs of human subjects to be free
What is the definition of reconciliation?
Individuals’ consciousness develops in society, but individuals have a degree of control over the development of consciousness
What are the characteristics of a conservative?
Tradition, community, and a strong state
