Hegel and Karl Marx Essay

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Marx Hegel

German philosopher Hegel developed a philosophy that can be called phenomenology, or Philosophy and the Actual World. Whereas previous philosophers concerned themselves with abstractions, Hegel wanted to apply philosophical inquiry to the world that we can know directly. Hegel appears to be more concerned with effects than with causes. However, Hegel is a philosopher and as such he is eminently concerned with reason.

Like the ancient Greeks, Hegel appreciated the method of the dialectic. The dialectical tool is effective in philosophy because it phrases issues in a question and answer method. The reader places himself or herself in the role of the inquirer, and a knowledgeable philosopher can answer the probing philosophical questions. Using dialectic, Hegel was also able to "converse" with his predecessors in philosophical tradition such as Kant. The dialectic allowed Hegel to grapple with complex philosophical contradictions. Hegel could resolve those contradictions using the tool of dialectic, in the way two people might argue or debate an issue. The common ground between two positions can be found. For example, Hegel reveals the seeming contradiction between Being and Nothingness in Phenomenology. How is dialectic used in modern philosophical inquiry? How can people use the tool of dialectic as a means to discover their own inner truths?

Hegel's concept of the geist is explored in The Phenomenology of Mind (Spirit).

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For Hegel, the term geist means neither mind nor spirit but something different. The term geist is used to describe the actual energy of life. Because Hegel uses a phenomenological approach, spirit or geist has a concrete meaning for him. Hegel understands, though, that there is a difference between the subconscious and conscious minds, or the mind that has external representation vs. The inner sense of self, which is also valid. In this way, Hegel's philosophy of mind predates the Freudian concepts of conscious and subconscious mind. Did Hegel have a direct influence on Freud as well as Marx? After all, Hegel's concept of spirit is akin to the concept of self-consciousness.

Like many other philosophers, Hegel is curious about the nature of art. In Phenomenology of Spirit, Hegel discusses the importance of aesthetics on the human spirit. Art encapsulates the spirit of the time, which is why it is easy to say the term zeitgeist. Interestingly, Hegel's concept of art seems rigid in the sense that he seems to believe that certain things are beautiful and certain things are not; he presumes a universal beauty. Art is also an expression of spirit, which is a concept that many people continue to believe.

Hegel presents religion as a means of representing the truth of the geist/spirit through the specific rituals….....

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