Georg W.F. Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, Introduction - Introduction to Philosophy

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In this lecture/discussion session we tackle the Introduction to a very challenging philosophical work, Georg William Friedrich Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. This recording is from from my Spring 2013 Introduction to Philosophy class at Marist College.
I lead the students through several of the basic themes discussed in this very dense but short section of Hegel's masterwork, introducing them to some of the key ideas of Hegel's dialectical philosophy, including: the nature of consciousness, knowledge as instrument and medium, idealism as a philosophical stance, what Hegel means by "the Absolute", what a "Science of Experience of Consciousness" consists in, the progress of the Hegelian dialectic, and the dead ends of natural consciousness and skepticism.
Hegel's approach to the phenomenology of consciousness' historical development in this work is both dynamic and systematic. Ultimately, this is to lead to an account of the whole, or the totality of human consciousness.
If you'd like to see more in-depth Hegel videos, check out my Half-Hour Hegel series, where we are going through the ENTIRE Phenomenology of Spirit, paragraph by paragraph -- the series is curated here: halfhourhegel.blogspot.com/

[@lomertamahon1]

These lectures are truly a labor of love.

[@GregoryBSadler]

+lomertamahon1 Hahaha! Yes, it's certainly not about the wealth and fame!

[@CanWeBeFriendsiLoveU]

Hey Gregory, on behalf of all the randomly curious people out there, thanks for taking the time out of your day to record and upload these!

[@GregoryBSadler]

from yesterday's class -- introducing non-philosophy-majors to Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit

[@jalopygoeson]

You sir, are a complete life saver. Thank you.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Peter Kerins You're very welcome! Glad you found it helpful

[@kadmonzohar2]

thank you Mr Sadler for a nice clear lecture...I loved the 'standing on the shoulders of giants' injection.

[@jwichmann1306]

Interesting although unsure whether to pursue reading this work. It's intimidatingly large and dense.

[@TarekFahmy]

Amazing ..greetings from Egypt

[@GregoryBSadler]

That's always good to read -- learning IS the main goal. You're very welcome!

[@smartspick]

Dr. Sadler. Thank you for this great series of lectures. Phenomenology of Spirit (and Hegel in general) has always been a unique case for me. During my studies I have held ambivalent positions on this philosopher-ranging from "he is a charlatan" to "he GOT it!". This is a fair and well rounded introduction to this work.

[@pwforces]

I've been searching all over the place for a clear lecture on Hegel's Preface to the phenomenology of mind, and this video helped very much, I had never studied Hegel and wanted to pick up on his work but I was met with frustration at the difficulty I had comprehending this book, this lecture somehow made it seem like a walk in the park and I am now able to proceed with much more clarity, Thank You for this video

[@sety5573]

Thanks for sharing this - It helped to clarify a lot of my misconceptions with some of the things Hegel was talking about in the introduction.

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're very welcome! Glad it was of some help.

[@GregoryBSadler]

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was just trying to cover the section called the Introduction, not so much to provide an actual introduction to Hegel (which is pretty tough to do in an hour or so)

[@andrewsnyarko8696]

Thanks for this video. This video highlights some of the themes in Hegel's work and i'm excited because it will help me in the writing of my thesis proposal.

[@philipcarpenter6718]

I've been waiting for this one. Once again, thank you.

[@t00fatt]

Very happy to see this! I was disappointed to learn my continental philosophy class in the fall would not be covering Hegel or Husserl. These lectures will be a terrific companion to my independent study over the summer. Thank you yet again Dr. Sadler!

[@mrpoig123]

Im new to Hegel and this lecture helped me to understand him better. Thanks

[@TwentyTwenty90]

Your lectures are incredibly helpful and clear. Thank you so much.

[@GregoryBSadler]

I'm glad to read that you enjoy them

[@SyntheticFragments]

Dr. Sadler doing a lecture series on The Phenomenology of Spirit? One word...EPIC!

[@TheGerogero]

Once again, thank you for your work Dr. Sadler. I listened to a lot a few years ago, and now I'm back for more. I'm going to write my bachelor's thesis on Peter Sloterdijk and I'm grateful for the leg-up your work provides.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Glad you find the videos useful!

[@drewvickery8555]

I'm really grateful for the lecture professor, I know posting lectures online isn't isolated to you and your courses but none the less I really appreciate it. It's a good sign for humanity that professors and universities are seeing that education should be free, especially the all subjects encompassing philosophy! So thanks again!

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're very welcome

[@okcomputer001]

Thank you for posting this !

[@jin9118]

Great teaching. It's one of those philosophy classes that I enjoyed listen to.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@CaptainJasa]

The Young Hegelians hands down one of the best names of a group ever that was named after a legend and fantastic way to carry on the legacy of the great philosopher that was G.W.F. Hegel.

[@GregoryBSadler]

I'm glad that the video helped. Keep in mind, though, that Hegel actually has both a Preface and an Introduction to the Phenomenology -- the Introduction is shorter and more straightforward, so that's what this video is on. The Preface is about everything under the sun, including why it is impossible to write a good preface

[@IAMMEHDI]

Thank you very much sharing this. Very generous of you.

[@GregoryBSadler]

+MEHDI Z You're very welcome.

[@LionKimbro]

I'm so thankful for this lecture; It explains so much so quickly! Just reading Hegel flat, without an introduction...to the introduction, ... feels like running into a wall.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Hegel is tough, to be sure

[@AmanRaj-qs2nx]

Thank you for the video. Appreciate your time and effort.

[@GregoryBSadler]

+Aman Raj You're welcome!

[@GregoryBSadler]

+Aman Raj You're welcome

[@annonybro6908]

Hey Gregory, great video.

[@hans-wernerbrussig9130]

You lift up Hegel very clear to your graitfull students minds to raise for better progress in USA society.

[@metatron7515]

thank you so much for all your videos!

[@richardjohnson6331]

Thank you for this video, and the other work you have done. Before watching it, I found Hegel to be an incredibly intimidating thinker and I found German Idealism as a whole inaccessible. Really, this vid is the best intro to Hegel I have seen and gave me a big interest in Hegel and German Idealism. After watching it, I got some books on the topic and am doing good.Thank you!

[@GregoryBSadler]

+Richard Johnson If you'd like some additional help with Hegel, you might check out my Half Hour Hegel series of videos, curated here: halfhourhegel.blogspot.com/p/the-video-series.html We just passed #100 in the series . . .

[@GregoryBSadler]

That's good to know -- it's always tricky explaining Hegel!

[@jeffjeffries4931]

Very clearly explained, particular the concept of dialectic. The conflict of fairness was a great example.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, there's a lot of concepts where people seem to think they're settled once and for all, but that often turns out not to be the case

[@mrpoig123]

Thanks for posting this lecture on hegel. I want to learn more on hegel.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well, you might want to check out the Half Hour Hegel series in that case - halfhourhegel.blogspot.com/p/the-video-series.html

[@123daan24]

Bad boy Greg breakin the speed limits..

[@GregoryBSadler]

+123daan24 Indeed. It's always been a problem for me

[@123daan24]

Drive safe man. On another note, thanks for uploading the lectures. You do a great job!

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're welcome

[@humblejumpify]

Thanks to you sir I have access to college level philosophy courses. Much appreciated!!!

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well, at least to the lectures. . . You're welcome!

[@peacemaker5251]

Thank you!! I appretiate your work!

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're very welcome!

[@TTFMjock]

Thanks again. That is pretty much what I was looking for. My idea was that human perception is itself linguistic *before* we have language, and that our perceptive faculties are geared for language, because before we have words, our minds subdivide experience into distinctly perceived objects, and that we non-verbally relate our perceptions to one or another object, attributing certain sights, sounds,smells, to a lasagna, or an ottoman, or ourselves, rather than merely sensing as such.

[@mousseva]

You sir, are Hegel's ideal for lack of vanity! Tons of respect! Even Hegel can't master such humility.

[@tsvetomirt.7513]

"For some years after throwing over absolutism I had an optimistic riot of opposite beliefs. I thought that whatever Hegel had denied must be true." - Bertrand Russell

[@GregoryBSadler]

Hahaha! I can't imagine myself being Hegel's ideal for anything! But, thanks!

[@lucassitta8289]

Really good class!

[@GregoryBSadler]

Thanks!

[@user-us2oe5ch2u]

Thank you for your answer. As regards phenomenology, Adorno (Three studies on Hegel), Lyotard (in his introduction to phenomenology) make some connections, I have also in mind the hegelian references of M.Ponty. In ''Crisis'' Husserl also makes some ''teleological statements'' about History and human knowledge. As regards cybernetics, I focus on Luhmann, Gunther (a cyber-hegelian) and ''autopoiesis'' of Varela-Maturana.One can think of ''feedback'' as retroactive "positing of presuppositions''

[@camilovega9843]

I have a test on this tomorrow, and i was finding Hegel's words a bit confusing. This was quite helpful. Thank you.

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're welcome! Let me know how it goes.

[@camilovega9843]

Everything went better than expected :)

[@mushkankushwah9067]

Amazing lecture..

[@GregoryBSadler]

Thanks!

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well, I've read them. . . . for an Intro class, they get to read him at an introductory level without having read Kant (though if you want to say that one need have read Fichte, one might as well say that one needs have read Rousseau, the Encyclopediasts, and. . . all the way back to Aristotle and Plato, since Hegel references all of them) I think it's important to keep in mind that this is an introductory class session. Later down the line, I'll do a whole series on the Phenomenology

[@craigenputtock]

What an engaging professor! I wish I had taken his classes! Does he have any more courses online? I'd like to see them.

[@GregoryBSadler]

craigenputtock I do indeed have courses online -- I develop and teach courses for the Global Center for Advanced Studies and for Oplerno. I'll have new classes opening up for both of them in mid-June (Philosophical Foundations, and Existentialist Philosophy and Literature). They'll start enrolling in May. I also have a major project on Hegel's Phenomenology ongoing -- the Half-Hour Hegel project. If you'd like to learn more about that, you can go here: halfhourhegel.blogspot.com/

[@flor.7797]

I'm starting with Half-Hour Hegel. It has a lot of great reviews

[@CaptainJasa]

A fantastic lecture. I have been reading the excellent biography on the life of Karl Marx by Jonathan Sperber and throughout the book Hegel influence is all over it from his students the Young Hegelians and Marx himself who even in his old age was still writing dialectal while mixing in the newer forms of philosophy like positivism in to his writing. Thanks for the great content hopefully we can get some videos on Karl Marx and how he took Hegel work in to another direction.

[@hadjesadje3345]

Hi Gregory B. Sadler, I would like to take you for uploading your class lecture. I learn a lot from you.

[@TarekFahmy]

Amazing job

[@GregoryBSadler]

Thanks!

[@GregoryBSadler]

you're welcome -- and thanks for subscribing

[@hrwoopwoop]

You deserve a medal...

[@GregoryBSadler]

elias johnsen Hahaha! Thanks! If you're interested, there's also a much more in-depth study of Hegel -- the Half Hour Hegel project -- here's the blog for it: halfhourhegel.blogspot.com/

[@Linda-mx5cn]

Hey, would love to hear about Hegel's view on the master/slave dialect - in terms of desire and work. Where would I find a lecture on that? And do you know Kojeve Ideas on this?

[@abcrane]

“Soon as you’ve reached a certain level of thought you’re doing philosophy” ... great concept!

[@GregoryBSadler]

Thanks!

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're very welcome

[@GregoryBSadler]

I'm mainly for reading Hegel in terms of Hegel -- as I tend to be for all of the people I work with in the history of philosophy. Yes, the Kojevian reading of Hegel is definitely idiosyncratic. But, there were some other great French readers of Hegel as well -- Jean Hypollite, Eric Weil come to mind immediately

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well, Hegel is certainly something quite different! I'll actually be shooting a sequence of videos on Hegel's Phenomenology this Fall or Winter.

[@user-us2oe5ch2u]

You are right-So I think there is an essential bond here. As Husserl argues (1906-1907 on knowledge), transcedental logic gives us to be a formal ontology, which becomes specific in ''regional ontologies'' (like the ''three worlds'' of Popper). I wonder how husserlian ''parenthesizing'' could be translated in hegelian terms of negation (like ''absenting'' in Roy Bhaskar). But it'all about epistemology/ontology and the problem of ''correlationism''.Thank you for the discussion.

[@user-us2oe5ch2u]

Thank you very much for your video.!!! I am very interested in comparing Hegel with Husserl as regards phenomenology, and Hegel with Cybernetics as regards The Logic. What do you think about these connections?

[@gl3wy22]

HI Gregory, I am currently studying ethics in school and I am supposed to be writing about the ethical viewpoints of Hegel in regards to embryonic experimentation. I was wondering if you could give me a few points that I can start on to answer this question. Also would Hegel have believed that the embryo is a human being and if so what would this mean for his opinion. Thankyou in advance.

[@proklus]

May be, Hegels system of gravitation is a good source for understanding the Begriff. There are great downloads by Dr. Stefan Büttner about the difference between Hegel and Newton about the state of matter, mass and movement. You can say, that, if matter is the negative unit of time and space, the theorie of Einstein still is a selfreffering system of time and space, what is for example the meaning of Keplers laws and many other phenomena.

[@stephaniespivak6225]

Love this love you

[@GregoryBSadler]

That's very nice! Glad you enjoy the class session

[@GregoryBSadler]

No Hegel or Husserl? Those are two of the "three H's" (Heidegger being the third)! I'm actually going to do a full set of lectures down the line on Hegel's Phenomenology -- but I need to finish the Existentialism series first

[@makecowsnotwar]

I hope everyone in the class got over their illnesses because there was just so much coughing I couldn’t help but be considerate about their health.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Look when the video was uploaded. . .

[@makecowsnotwar]

@@GregoryBSadler Hopefully 8 years is long enough to get over a cough.

[@lyndonbailey3965]

I get the bit about 'higher levels' does Hegel describe any kind of a system of 'orders of magnitude of advancement' or something to that effect? This again was clear as crystal, does secondary reading help with that much?

[@GregoryBSadler]

He does describe such a system in its full extent -- that's what the entire Phenomenology of Spirit is intended to be.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well, a few things: What we typically call "knowledge by experience" rates pretty low for Hegel -- it needs to be reflected upon in order to become "knowledge" in any full sense of the term. Is the progress of the dialectic as a whole dependent upon belief? Yes, for at each stage, there's some belief going on, often presented as full conceptual knowledge. Does sense-perception play a role? I suppose, but a very secondary one

[@smartspick]

I recently dealt in a very serious way with Hegel's "Logic". I was surprised with the ontological terminology used by Hegel. Seems very similar to the ontological/ontic terminology used by Heidegger.

[@P26234]

thank you.

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're welcome

[@trevorbradshaw2932]

"The Farmer's Almanac... which amounted to nothing-- except growing seasons." I laughed hard at that

[@GregoryBSadler]

No. . . and (since the first answer is No), No. You've got to read the descriptions. The videos in the Intro playlist are from two different semesters.

[@fullonfriends]

I don't know if you are going to read this but I was wondering if you have any suggestions for supplementary reading to "Phenomenology of Spirit". Such as "The Routledge Guidebook to Hegel" or Houlgate's Reader Guide, anything would be helpful.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well, in some sense, anything can be compared to anything. How precisely do you think they are similar or connected?

[@TTFMjock]

Been checking out your vids here and there. Great resource. I probably should (whenever I can) get further into McIntyre (Whose Justice, etc.) A question, if I may, about phenomenology. If I were to say the following: "Language by nature presents a hypothetical link between phenoumen (which are sensory and thus heterogeneous & scattered) and postulated objects in & through which sense data is organized." What would this sort of thing be called? Who has gone into this sort of thing? Thnx

[@nataliesmith6198]

How do we know if the synthesis that comes from the conflict is actually something higher/better? I that I mean, by what are we to judge progress? I feel vaguely that Hegel may answer this by giving Spirit some agency? I'm reading the Preface for a class, and this lecture helped get the initial nuts and bolts down really well! Thank you so much!

[@GregoryBSadler]

I've actually got an entire series started -- and we're nearly through the Preface -- called Half-Hour Hegel: kzbin.info/aero/PL4gvlOxpKKIgR4OyOt31isknkVH2Kweq2 As to judging whether the new shape of consciousness is higher, first, the "we" is not going to include everyone. Those still in the previous stages of consciousness may not be able to see the progress. Second, you have to ask: does this new shape incorporate what was positive or valuable (including past progress) in the previous stages?

[@nataliesmith6198]

Thanks for the heads up about Half Hour Hegel! I will definitely check it out. I am still wondering how Hegel would judge something as positive or valuable? How do those (whoever they may be) decide what was good and necessary about the previous stage in order to keep it up? Imagine the thesis is the current stage of philosophy or whatever. There are two primary antitheses posed. How is one chosen as the thing with which to clash and then synthesize? How does one know that Antithesis A holds onto something more valuable than Antithesis B? Is getting stuck on this question a sign that I haven't quite understood Hegel's process? (I realize you are a busy professor, so take your time if need be on getting back to me in the "youtube classroom") :)

[@GregoryBSadler]

I think you're looking for something like a one-size-fits all criterion here for "what was good and necessary about the previous stage", that can then be applied, you might say, from the outside to any of them. There isn't one -- it's something that does become apparent (this is a Phenomenology) in the historical process.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well, that's terminology you'll find running through German philosophy after Kant in general, so no surprise that it gets used by both of these thinkers

[@DrChappermuffin]

I'm English, I was also confused by your use of the word Skeptic. To me you talked about relativism, asserting that all view points are equal and that therefore there can be no system of order. I also enjoyed your use of the flip exercised by Socrates in his dialogue with Protagoras. That when relativist asserts there is no true stance, he is himself asserting a true stance. Did you mean that skeptecism is rejecting both opinions instead of supporting one or finding a synthesis?

[@MrShylock56]

I like what you're saying about professions….I personally have been giving this a lot of thought lately and see this as a major problem in our system, when people follow a profession but do not understand the essence of the profession and so can never actually speak the language of that profession fully! What are your thoughts on this?

[@GregoryBSadler]

+liam o conlacha I think that's not unique to our "system"

[@GregoryBSadler]

Down the line, I'll be shooting a sequence on dialectical philosophy.

[@seandelaney2066]

This dude is great I wish he was my Hegel teacher

[@GregoryBSadler]

Thanks! You might want to check this out - halfhourhegel.blogspot.com/

[@S2Cents]

Hi Professor Sadler, I'm curious about what you think of Robert Brandom's work, as well as Brandom's interpretation of Hegel? And, I guess, Zizek.. well he came to mind as well.

[@GregoryBSadler]

2cents I've not much to say about Brandom. Zizek is always interesting, and one can learn much from him, but what you get is typically more Zizek, or at least something quite Zizek-flavored, than straightforward commentary.

[@S2Cents]

Gregory B. Sadler Thanks. One more..Richard Rorty?

[@GregoryBSadler]

I read the obligatory bits back in grad school. Not much since then, I'm afraid

[@ralphklien9593]

I'm sure that flour is the first thing on the list for all these university students lol. Anyways, thanks DR. Sadler. I really enjoy your lectures.

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're welcome!

[@HerreraCam]

*subscribed* Thanks!

[@GregoryBSadler]

Yep, you can't have it all. If you get helpful tangents, you're bound to get some distracting ones as well. And, doubtless, whether the tangents have one quality or the other depends very much on who is listening

[@turaxZN]

I use that same system or method that Hegel uses. I didn't know anybody else did.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well, there have been quite a few Hegelians

[@demeritfc3655]

Really enjoyed the video. Whats your opinion on Nietzsche,obviously he shares much with Hegel but what about where he differs.

[@GregoryBSadler]

I've got plenty of videos on Nietzsche you could watch that would probably answer those questions. Glad you enjoyed the video

[@joshuamitchell1733]

Is progress dependent on belief as well as knowledge from experience according to Hegel?

[@Damion00000]

the first time i read hegel's work i could not even understand the introduction

[@GregoryBSadler]

+Damion Monaghan Trying to remember back to my undergrad days, I think I might have had a similar experience. I had a hard time understanding quite a lot -- not just Hegel -- for quite a while

[@Damion00000]

Admittedly i was smoking way too much pot and i was still very naive in the ways of the world. although what is very strange to me is that Hegel's philosophy strikes home. i do not know if it is because of Zen or because i enjoy military philosophy. Nevertheless your effort has sparked another one of my crazy deep dives into a body of information. I have about 26 volumes of his work including the phenomenology of spirit - this is self directed education. my biggest challenge with these types of ambitions is that most people think it is unattainable and basically kick me upstairs.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Damion Monaghan The complete works of Hegel -- that will certainly take some time to read through!

[@Damion00000]

My mind is horribly lazy so this is the equivalent of waging a war against ignorance and mediocrity.

[@shattynatty27]

Which translation/version of phenomenology of spirit would you suggest?

[@GregoryBSadler]

If you want to hold a copy in your hands, the Miller translation isn't bad. Pinkard has a new one coming out which is pretty good -- and you can get a draft in PDF. You an find links to them both here: halfhourhegel.blogspot.com/p/the-translation-im-using-in-half-hour.html

[@ivancannon3885]

The one in your brain, you Fool!

[@carovski]

Hi could you tell me if the word "object/objective" in Hegel's writings carries the same meaning in Feuerbach's writing (particularly in The Essence of Christianity). I'm in semantic hell right now and would kindly appreciate any help. cheers

[@GregoryBSadler]

Akylina C Hegel, in German, uses two different words -- Gegenstand and Objekt. I'd guess, since Feuerbach is one of the Left Hegelians, that he's using the term in a similar way. Not having read him for a few years (and that only in English), that's about all I can say

[@carovski]

Thank you for replying! context is: working on an essay that draws on Feuerbach and Marx (German Ideology) and feel like I need to understand Hegel somewhat to understand F and M.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Well. . . that's the sort of matter for which I'd suggest a tutorial session. If you're interested in that, here's our website: reasonio.wordpress.com/tutorials/

[@carovski]

wow! this is brilliant! When I have a little cash saved up this would be really helpful! Thanks for the link!

[@GregoryBSadler]

You're welcome -- until then, you might look around in some of the Half-Hour Hegel videos, particularly those going through the Introduction. You might find some of what you're looking for there.

[@chickhicks6341]

Hi, reading both Hegel and Ken Wilber has helped me deal with the harsh realities of life here in the Philippines and a personal tragedy that has ended my career as a teacher and scholar of philosophy. Lately, however, I have become a bit critical of Wilber and is now of the opinion that Hegel may have a more flexible system than Wilber, if properly understood. Both thinkers still haunt me though i'm now exiled from my beloved academia through my own follies and life situation. But just curious, what are your thoughts on both Wilber and Hegel? I need to settle both thinkers in my mind before I even try to make an academic comeback. Thanks for hearing me out. Been sooo...long since I last got to see an exceptional teacher as yourself.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Never read Wilber, nor even heard of him, so there's nothing I can say about him. I'm not a Hegelian myself, in the sense of someone who buys into the system. I think he's interesting and that a good bit of what he says can be useful at times

[@chickhicks6341]

@@GregoryBSadler Thanks for honest reply. Sticking to Hegel, i nevertheless find both the phenomenology and your interpretation very useful in my studies in special education (all my 3 kids are in the autistic spectrum) and cognition in general (am a sucker for neuroscience and the Philosophy of Mind). Only time will tell whether I will become a full Hegelian or not as I delve deeper into both Hegel and my fields of studies. Nevertheless, am grateful for these lectures of yours. Pretty sure they will be a big help in my philosophical and practical quest to understand autism and the mind in general.

[@Victor-fp2qr]

great talk. Is there a specific word in any language for a phenomenon turning out to be another phenomenon? Or an assumption turning out to be another reality? -- i.e. expecting coffee taste and getting taste of kerosene instead or seeing someone who looks like your friend and getting stoked but they turn around and it isn't, etc.

[@LoverOfTruth2010]

Dr. Sadler, I am currently an undergrad philosophy student and I love the history of philosophy. I don't like analytic philosophy too much though. Are there any grad school programs that focus more on continental philosophy and not so much on analytic philosophy? Are there any grad school programs that just focus on the history of philosophy itself? By the way, thank you so much for the lectures that you provide here on youtube. You are an inspiration.

[@GregoryBSadler]

LoverOfTruth2010 You're welcome. Yes, there's plenty of grad programs that focus on continental philosophy or on the history of philosophy -- you just need to start doing some research, and you'll uncover them quickly enough. Then, you want to start seeing if you can connect up with some people in those departments, so you can get a sense of whether you want to apply to them or not

[@WoolleyWoolf]

FYI you can check out Peter Adamson’s ‘history of philosophy without any gaps’ youtube playlist, it’s an extraordinary feat, and quite funny, witty, informative, light, historical, respectful; also can check out history of philosophy by Bertrand Russell, Frederik Coppleston, or Anthony Kenny…

[@xMorentz]

Surely knowledge is the relationship between subject/object, and the medium/instrument is our consciousness?

[@GregoryBSadler]

Sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn't, for instance, when knowledge itself is the object of consciousness -- you should probably check out my Half-Hour Hegel series, where we'll be going through all of Hegel's Phenomenology, paragraph by paragraph, where you'll see him discussing these shifts of perspective

[@pliskin67]

How do you read Hegel without reading Kant first? Or Fichte? Or the romantics?

[@nonagon4266]

when he was talking about imagining if people applied this same skepticism to love, I immediately realized that this video was published before incels became a widely discussed topic on the internet. now that i think about it, they embody this self-destructive tendency to its fullest extent.

[@joshuamitchell1733]

I don't know if I am remembering a last author or am making this interpretation of Hegel up. Isn't hegels absolute knowledge a form of dialectic in regards to memory?

[@rgaleny]

Quality is the word. See Axiology.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Husserl has a few teleological themes, to be sure -- but his form of phenomenology is pretty abstract, pretty ahistorical -- precisely one of the complaints about him by Adorno in Against Epistemology. You have to do a LOT of work to connect Husserl and Hegel, as Merleau-Ponty, yes, does -- Sartre too. notice how easy it is, though to say: here, he's drawing on Husserl, here on Hegel Really, anyone can make connections -- the question is whether they're forced upon or suggested by the text

[@MachineYearning]

Do you think Hegel would say that as his mind attained consciousness of itself and he thereafter communicated these thoughts through his works on philosophy, that the history was coming to an end by virtue of that isolated realization of self and advancement of the spirit towards freedom? I'd see this as the absolute progressive "ending" of history rather than the absolute final "end". I haven't finished reading his works yet though; would love to hear your thoughts, thanks for the lectures!

[@WoolleyWoolf]

No. History = meaningful history, or something radically new coming on the scene…the essential changes, transformations, and shapes of consciousness had more or less been developed by that point across the-meaningful-history of ideas, believed Hegel…

[@shatakan]

What do you think to the anti-metaphysical reading of Hegel that has emerged in the last few decades which emphasises his Kantianism (Brandom, McDowell et al)? I'd say it's a welcome attempt to rehabilitate Hegel into the Analytic canon but at the expense of most of the subtlety of his argument. Then again, perhaps the traditional 'French' reading goes too far in the other direction.

[@JusteUnOod]

Which translation of the book would you recommend? I've been told that the rendition by Bailee was far superior to Miller's.

[@GregoryBSadler]

I'll be using the Miller as I go through the text

[@JusteUnOod]

Gregory B. Sadler Fantastic, thank you for replying! And within minutes! Not many KZbinr's are THIS connected with their audience. This is truly a treasure of a channel. Thank you.

[@GregoryBSadler]

JusteUnOod You're welcome. I just happened to be on, and not too engrossed in anything else to see and respond to the G+ Bell thing. . . I can't say I'm always that quick!

[@GregoryBSadler]

Yep. One reason it's so hard to write on Hegel

[@MountAnalogue]

Great lecture. Just wish the students had more detailed responses.

[@GregoryBSadler]

Realize: this is an Intro to Philosophy class

[@brianclark4796]

Gregory B. Sadler there is no excuse NOT to think. even if you justify it.

[@GregoryBSadler]

***** Yeah. . . I don't think people just watching a video are really all that qualified to decide whether students are thinking or not. . . I'm the one who reads their forum posts and papers. I used to have a rather similarly dismissive attitude about whether people are "thinking" or not as an undergrad myself. Teaching helped out with that. . .

[@philipcarpenter6718]

...(3rd post). Don't get me wrong, I do like your interaction with the class and don't expect you to talk directly the camera at all times, but just so the viewer doesn't feel like he's hiding under a desk. :-)

[@jujuandjesus]

I am confused by the term skeptic being used. Skeptic just means that you cannot *easily* be convinced, not that you will never be convinced. I think skepticism is the only thing that *has* gotten us anywhere. A better term for what he is going for would be contrarian. Maybe I am missing a specific definition (which is one thing I hate about philosophy, well maybe the only thing I hate, I love some philosophy). Let me know what you think!