Neo-Hegelianism

Neo-Hegelianism is a school (or schools) of thought associated and inspired by the works of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German idealist philosopher active around the beginning of the nineteenth century. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, many European and American philosophers revived interest in aspects of Hegel's works, especially those pertaining to the importance of spirit, and the belief that ideas and moral ideals are fundamental.

Neo-Hegelianism was prominent in Great Britain and in the United States between 1870 and 1920, and the name is also applied to other philosophers of that period who took their inspiration from Hegel, such as Benedetto Croce and Giovanni Gentile.

Hegelianism after Hegel

Shortly after Hegel’s death in 1831, his school in Germany diverged into three currents of thought: the conservative Rightist Hegelians, who developed his philosophy along lines compatible with Christian teachings and conservative politics; the “Young Hegelians,” or leftists, a group including Karl Marx, Freidrich Engels, Ludwig Feuerbach and Max Stirner, who took up the theory of dialectic and historical progression and developed schools of materialism, socialism, rationalism, and pantheism; and the centrists, who concentrated on the philosophical system itself, which they diffused throughout the Western world.

Hegel's influence soon became powerful in the English-speaking world, particularly in the philosophy of religion. Elements of Hegel’s idealism were adopted into the thought of philosophers in Great Britain and the United States. These included the existence of a universal will or plan; the concept that reality is in a constant process of change and evolution towards an eventual, more ideal state of being; the view that history is a similar process of political development; and the emphasis on human values and morals as a standard for goodness and truth.

The British Neo-Hegelians

The British school, called British idealism and partly Hegelian in inspiration, included Thomas Hill Green (1836–82), William Wallace(1844-1897), F.H. Bradley (1846–1924) and Edward Caird (1835–1908). It developed as a natural sequel to the work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Thomas Carlyle. Primarily directed towards political philosophy, it arose partly as a response to the materialistic doctrines of utilitarianism, and to the challenges which new scientific discoveries were presenting to religion.

The British Neo-Hegelians rejected materialism and naturalism in metaphysics, the analysis of consciousness in terms of sensation and the association of ideas, and psychologism and formalism in logic. In ethics they opposed the utilitarian principle of “the greatest happiness for the greatest number” and the idea of “duty for duty’s sake.” In politics they moved away from the prevailing concept of society as an association of individuals who cooperated for their mutual benefit, and instead viewed it as a living community and often as a expression of a universal or historical will. They were sympathetic to religion, but did not accept religious doctrines as literal truth. Their philosophy became popular as a rational alternative to religious beliefs which were being eroded by modern scientific discoveries and the theory of evolution.

Neo-Hegelianism in the United States

In the United States, Neo-Hegelianism originated from the work of the Boston Transcendentalists and was developed through the efforts of William Torrey Harris (1835–1909), who was introduced to German philosophy by Henry C. Brockmeyer. Together they formed the St. Louis Philosophical Society in 1866, promoting the concept of a universal plan continually unfolding through a historical dialectic. In 1867, Harris founded the Journal of Speculative Philosophy, the first philosophical periodical in the United States.

Neo-Hegelianism’s most distinguished proponent in the United States was Josiah Royce (1855–1916), though his idealism, which gave special prominence to the will, was closer to the ideas of Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Royce's contemporaries Charles Sanders Peirce and William James repudiated his metaphysics but retained elements of idealism, particularly in their early work. James’s successor John Dewey also began his career as a Hegelian and continued to denounce abstractions and to regard formal logic with suspicion.

German Twentieth-Century Neo-Hegelians

In Germany neo-Hegelianism (neohegelianismus) developed during the early twentieth century, out of the Neo-Kantian movement. Richard Kroner wrote one of its leading works, Von Kant bis Hegel (1921/4), a classic history of German idealism written from the Neo-Hegelian point of view. He is known for his characterization of Hegel as 'the Protestant Aquinas'.

Notable Neo-Hegelians

• Francis Herbert Bradley (1846 - 1924), a British absolute idealist who adapted Hegel's Metaphysics.

• Josiah Royce (1855 - 1916), an American defender of absolute idealism.

• Benedetto Croce (1866 - 1952), an Italian philosopher who defended Hegel's account of how we understand history. Croce wrote primarily about aesthetics, on topics such as artistic inspiration/intuition and personal expression.

• Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970), an influential British mathematician, philosopher, and logician, working mostly in the twentieth century. Russell, however, shed his neo-Hegelianism in his early years.

• Giovanni Gentile (1875-1944), important philosopher within the fascist movement. He ghost-wrote "The Doctrine of Fascism"

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Brink, David O. Perfectionism and the Common Good: Themes in the Philosophy of T. H. Green. Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0199266401
• Clendenning, J., 1999. The Life and Thought of Josiah Royce, 2nd ed. Vanderbilt University Press.
• Delfgaauw, Bernard. 1969. Twentieth-century philosophy. Albany, N.Y.: Magi Books.

ISBN 0873430247 ISBN 9780873430241 ISBN 9780873430241 ISBN 0873430247

• Haldar, Hiralal. 1927. Neo-Hegelianism. London: Heath, Cranton.
• Jones, Henry and John Muirhead The life and philosophy of Edward Caird Glasgow, Maclehose:Jackson and Co., 1921. ISBN 1855060264 ISBN 978-1855060265
• Kuklick, Bruce. 1972. Josiah Royce: an intellectual biography. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill.
• Sahakian, William S. 1968. History of philosophy. Outline series (New York, N.Y.). New York: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0064600025 ISBN 9780064600026 ISBN 9780064600026 ISBN 0064600025
• Thomas, Geoffrey. The Moral Philosophy of T.H. Green. Oxford University Press, 1988. ISBN 978-0198247883

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