Hegel: Philosophy of world history and spirit

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Philosophy professor Ellie Anderson discusses G.W.F. Hegel's views on world history and the nature of spirit. Why does Hegel think that world history is a rational process? How do freedom, the state, and ethical life fit into the world-historical process?
This video was created for Professor Anderson's Spring 2021 "Continental Thought" course at Pomona College. The text under discussion is G.W.F. Hegel's Introduction to the Philosophy of World History.
For more from Ellie, check out Overthink podcast!
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[@mencken8]

One thing that is indisputable about Hegel is that reading him is a sure cure for insomnia.

[@sacredgeometry]

Same with Marx

[@nolanr1400]

Hahaha true. No, I find Marx easier to read and understandable but Hegel is really more... Obscure 🙄

[@sacredgeometry]

@@nolanr1400 Marx isn't hard to understand its just dull.

[@shahid3520]

🤣

[@PerspectivePhilosophy]

Maybe try starting with the Encyclopedia rather than the Phenomenology. It's written towards students. Learn the Logic first since it's the ground for all the other works so to speak. Learn his Vocab, understand terms such as Being-for-itself and Being-in-and-for-itself. It'll make the process easier. Check out readers guides. My personal favorite is Hegel's Philosophy of Right: A Reader's Guide by David Edward Rose. Hope this makes you're goals easier!

[@BenjaminIdle]

it's been said many times in the comments already, but this channel is a beacon of light. The selection of topics, the professional handling of source materials, the ethical conversion from unapproachable to comprehensive accessibility, and the intuitively entertaining yet meaningful structure. it's good shit fr

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People who can spread knowledge with this level of aptitude for the task are saints in my eyes. I had a very unconventional upbringing and didn't get more then halfway through high school so I feel extremely grateful whenever I find enriching content by good people who care about making education accessible.

[@GeekPhilosopher]

This is the clearest exposition of Hegel's philosophy I have ever heard.

[@marcialhernandezmedina5149]

De acuerdo

[@IvoMaropo]

This is Hegel's philosophy of HISTORY, not his Logic.

[@emilioramos4992]

Indeed!!

[@davide7708]

@@IvoMaropo What does he say about Logic?

[@LucasEWall]

This is good. Also, try Peter Singer’s Introduction to Hegel. Clearest book ever. Though entry level.

[@jti107]

her passion for philosophy really comes through and is contagious

[@zuz-ve4ro]

im sorry but adding hegel to passion is like multiplying by 0

[@capitalmarketsandinternati1501]

Kudos! To talk Hegel in such a lucid and coherent way, and cover such a broad field of Hegelian concepts requires more than skills and knowledge. You definitely have owned it.

[@seanleith5312]

French Philosophers and German Philosophers are the destructors of the world. Their theories lead to destruction and misery for the world. I hesitant to use the word evil, since "evil" would include intention. But intentional or not, the result is the same. It's English men who bring reason, science, technology, progress and prosperity to world.

[@guapelea]

Best philosopy teacher I've ever met. Just can't believe my ears.

[@joshualeavitt7517]

For a long time I have been looking for someone who's able to explain these points in Hegel's philosophy, in a simple and relatable way. I think I just found the channel:) Looking forward to hearing more

[@scottfowler8380]

I’m so glad I found this KZbin channel. Thank you so much for sharing all this.

[@jukeboxhero5]

This is absolutely brilliant, thank you for your content!

[@philipvlnst]

Thank you Professor Ellie Anderson. Now things have become clearer.

[@ben19867]

Absolutely the clearest and most accurate distillation of Hegel out there. Really excellent - very skilled to do that so effectively

[@santacruzman]

Oh, stop.

[@adaptercrash]

OK heidegger remade it there's a book on it

[@robertoa.m.3984]

Such a joy to watch and hear you.

[@hossameboudaghia1228]

Thank you for this insightful video! It helped me a lot deciphering some ideas by Hegel.

[@courtneydolly6538]

Hey your channel is so amazing, you are so good at taking the most complex concepts and making them concise and simple which I think takes even more skill and knowledge than making some high-falutin video, thanks for sharing!! Subscribed.

[@suchawolfy]

I've never understood Hegel so clearly till now. Awesome video. 👏 👏 👏

[@kevinevans8505]

What all the others say. I can't manage Hegel without a bit of this sort of help. Thank you for doing it so well.

[@williamkraemer8338]

I wish every college student could have a philosophy professor like Prof. Anderson.

[@williamkraemer8338]

You are the best!

[@vedantsridhar8378]

I actually like learning about philosophy in my free time. It'd be my dream to learn this fascinating subject at a boring school and college. And she nailed it!

[@samhoratio]

Just discovered your channel and I'm so grateful. Thank you for sharing your expertise and your talent for helping students like me gain a foothold on Hegel. Best wishes!

[@Tenorio74]

I love the questions and ideas philosophy brings to bear, but I love more the light that biology and psychology and the objective studies of human nature shed on these timeless topics. It is no wonder science was called natural philosophy and the first psychologists were doctors and/or philosophers. Thanks for the great videos!

[@Katalognummer]

I love this explanation. THANK YOU

[@jared3370]

This video is my introduction to Hegel and right off the bat I can tell I'm gonna love this guy

[@Bokhari786]

Absoulately right. I cherished your lectures. Keep it up dear.

[@avi3681]

Very clear and well articulated.

[@sz4930]

Thank you for this video!

[@fialaclub617]

I could listen to her all day, such a bealtiful voice.

[@Nedwin]

Not many of us have courage to talk about the great Hegel!! Ellie is such an amazing presenter. I've been into Locke, Bacon, Machiaveli. But not really into Descartes, Schopenhauer, or Hegel. So, thank you Ellie. You open my eyes wide open on Hegel. Subscribed!

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You are becoming one of my Premier models of how to make difficult thoughts accessible quickly and appealingly. This is important work.

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[@tuliowz]

What a great video I'm a philosophy grad student, and I'm very glad youtube got to recommend this video to me still haven't studied much about Hegel, but I'm looking forward to it, thanks!!

[@pratikgore6536]

Learning hegel has always been one step forward and 2 steps back for me. For the first time I can say I have gone one step forward and one step back.

[@deepthebookkeeper]

hegelian dialectic : one step forward, some definitely back

[@manuelrodriguez5293]

Thanks for the video! I just read his book on this but when I got to the state I was extremely confused, your video helped clear it up a bit

[@frankshifreen]

thanks so much- wish I took your class on Hegel- clarifies a lot

[@matthewr7593]

Absolutely fantastic lecturer. I love Hegel, but he is so complicated that I just enjoy watching any discussion of his thought because it makes it more sure-footed in my mind. Thank you!

[@killerbees2922]

If you want to understand hegel, just replace the words : zeitgeist, spirit, concept, reason, idea etc by the word God. You will understand that the whole philosophy of hegel is nothing more than the philosophy of Christianism( Lutheranism) reformulated with the vocabulary of German’s idealism. Schopenhauer was right to point that out when he talking about the professors of philosophy ( that’s why they love teaching hegel). It’s complicated confusing and obscur. That’s not the role of philosophy at all

[@meesalikeu]

this is just an awesome presentation, clear and focused

[@dilbyjones]

Keep cominmg back to Hegel. Awesome.

[@syedaleemuddin6804]

This is your best of best presentation. Good job

[@musa94]

What a brilliant articulation, made even Hegel's ideas sound interesting!

[@eduardo_gallardo009]

I don't know why but I find your comment really funny.

[@aureliano_37]

Wdym? They were always interesting

[@damonzex1017]

An outstanding elucidation of key Hegelian notions. You mentioned many key concepts but were able to simultaneously relate Hegel back to practical existence. I am currently reading his Science of Logic which actually sheds immense light on his metaphors in Phenomenology. How you described the movement of Geist across time is exactly in keeping with the essence of what he was imparting. Thank you for creating this outstanding and succinct analysis.

[@kaivonmassenbach4357]

Thanks! Sounds like a very intellectual version of unity consciousness. I liked this explanation a lot!!

[@Isaac-we2ks]

Good primer thanks for this!! Trying to study for class and this vid was super helpful

[@manjunathac4992]

Your spirit is more and more concrete 😊 Excellent explanation.

[@tedjaeckel5623]

I think you beautifully distilled Hegel according you your yourself. I love your voice.

[@sokratmektebi]

you are a good narrator. Your speech is hypnotizing.

[@emankir]

Thank you for talking about Hegel’s ideas with such passion (all puns intended)

[@dr.phil.pepper3325]

The term "Geist" doesn't only mean "spirit" but also "mind, intellect, reason, rationality". The Phenomenology of Spirit is not so much about the moving force in history, but more an epistemological approach on how the mind works, from the individual level of recognition of objects up onto the abstraction from objects on a social level and self-recognition of the mind. The main question of the book is the same as in Kants Critique of Pure Reason - If and how it is possible to recognize metaphysical truth. But in opposition to Kant, Hegels answer is that it is possible through the analysis of the dialectic movement in nature and history, which is what he calls the "Spekulative Methode" (speculative method).

[@thenowchurch6419]

Excellently put. Of course the development of individual minds towards self-recognition does have a collective result on society as a whole, as well.

[@penelopehill9710]

This expansion of Hegel beyond Prof Anderson's excellent summary is truly insightful!

[@scottiemyman52]

Bravo - so well done👍

[@chezzebait1786]

love this, thank you.

[@mattiapiazzolla1954]

you're really good at explaining things clearly...very good job. appreciate that!

[@LeeGee]

A brilliant, passionate (hah) presentation. A real pleasure. I'll share this one with my daughter, a rare thing.

[@jimgallagher8029]

Excellent. Worth a view and a re-view to get a grounding in this too-easy-to-misunderstand subject.

[@alexanderstrom7089]

Brilliant. Thank you

[@MikeDGuitar]

It is very neat that you are putting out philosophy material like this; it breathes life into the abstract history of philosophical thinking. I'm currently enjoying my own level of "world construction" with my own lens. Just out of curiosity, when is a person ready to dive into a subject like philosophy?

[@pipersolanas3322]

Great intro to Hegel!

[@faqirkhan6223]

Really best explanation in simple words and examples appreciated madam

[@antoineaboudaher1434]

Perfect explanation

[@samyaghosh5558]

This is so interesting and ties in so much to Buddhist idea of impermanence (which is like the nature of spirit). The spirit going towards freedom is also similar to a Buddhist path leading to enlightenment (freedom from Samsara). So fascinating to see so many overlaps in philosophy and spirituality.

[@shreyasreeghosh7433]

Very helpful and informative video. Eagerly waiting for the next video on Hegel.

[@bridgingparadigms]

This is a great, succinct explanation of Hegel's broad philosophy. I've been reading Hegel, as well as other sources for ages, and I think I am only starting to get it now, and this video is another step towards getting there. So thank you Ellie for doing this! I have no background in any university degrees, I am an outsider in that regard, but what is in common here is Hegel, and in the most part, I correlate with what you have presented. Someone said, I'm not sure who, something along the lines of that whatever path you take in studying philosophy, whenever you get to the end, you will always find Hegel there, smiling back at you. And I tend to agree. This may be too much to ask, but if you are interested and have time, I would like to see what you think about what I have presented. I have made a 45-minute video regarding Hegel, and I have never discussed my ideas with anyone, let alone someone with your knowledge. So I am a little scared here, but I am curious to hear any comments you might have. That is, if you have time. Be gentle with me, but at the same time, don't hold back. Thank you again.

[@carlospadinmartinez]

I came to this channel looking for resources for a project but I could never have thought that I would find gold. Top notch channel, bravo.

[@markberman6708]

To quote some famous British dude, "this is a bloody brilliant presentation". Heh, concise, coherent, spot on point and fun to watch and listen to. Once read in German, but too many years ago now. Think about how much of this thought is inside the idea of an agreement between a people and a state (constitution)... fun stuff. Thanks for doing this!

[@user-gw2zu5do2r]

Videos for G. W. F. Hegel! Great!

[@almodovar251]

I love this lecture. Thank you. I love philosophy!!

[@coahuiltejano]

Brilliant!

[@PetrusJosephus]

Thanks, this helps me to review for tomorrows final exam.

[@DjTahoun]

Thank you so much 🌷😇🌷

[@straightuntotruth]

Learnt in 12 mins what I couldn’t in 6 months of my university professor’s lectures. Thanks buddy. Love from India. Keep posting more and more gists of thinkers with their key ideas explained in lucid terms.

[@armandj.8864]

Recently found your channel and actually understanding a lot of the philosophers I've struggled with.

[@pauloferes8902]

Congrats. He is a difficult philosopher. You were very clear and concise.

[@WWS322]

You're a good teacher.

[@timothythechoi]

Thank you. I like that the books are shelved with some rules.

[@syedaleemuddin6804]

Hi Ellie I am going to share this on Quora. I like it a lot..

[@alexarobinson2850]

Yessssss someone that gets Hegel ❤ SNAPS🎉

[@meilstone]

Awesome, thanks!

[@jonahanderson9101]

Wow this was a great explanation what a wonderful teacher

[@hyperduality2838]

Teleology leads to the 4th law of thermodynamics:- Being is dual to non being creates becoming -- Plato's cat. Alive is dual to not alive -- the Schrodinger's cat superposition (duality). Thesis (alive, being) is dual to anti-thesis (not alive, non being) creates the converging thesis or synthesis -- Hegel's cat or Fichte's cat, the time independent Hegelian dialectic. Schrodinger's cat is based upon Hegel's cat and Hegel stole it from Plato (and Socrates). Teleological physics (syntropy) is dual to non-teleological physics (entropy). Syntropy (prediction) is dual to increasing entropy -- the 4th law of thermodynamics! Concepts are dual to percepts -- the mind duality of Immanuel Kant. Brahman (creator god, thesis) is dual to Shiva (destroyer god, anti-thesis) synthesizes Vishnu (preserver god) -- Hinduism or the Hegelian dialectic. You can derive the Hegelian dialectic from the Hindu religion. Action is dual to reaction -- Sir Isaac Newton (the duality of force). Cause is dual to effect -- forces are correlated. Forces are a by product of conserving the duality or correlation of cause & effect. Attraction is dual to repulsion, push is dual to pull (forces and hence energy are dual). "Always two there are" -- Yoda. Absolute truth is dual to relative truth -- Hume's fork. The Necker cube is a good visual example of duality and you should watch the spinning dancer:- www.medicaldaily.com/right-your-eyes-science-behind-famous-spinning-dancer-optical-illusion-336122 Bi-stability implies duality. Clockwise is dual to anti-clockwise. Master (lordship) is dual to slave (bondsman) -- the Hegelian dialectic. Left brain dominance is dual to right brain dominance -- brain hemispheres. Left or right brain dominance? Either way you have duality and Hegel becomes absolute truth! Forwards is dual to backwards -- which is way is the train moving?:- kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZ6ykIKXjrx5epo Energy is dual to mass -- Einstein. Dark energy is dual to dark matter.

[@blackpilledchad1927]

First time i hear somebody explaining Hegel to me with ease. Interesting.

[@koftu]

First, although analytic philosophy seems to resonate more naturally with me, your introductions and explanations of continental philosophy have been giving me new perspective on that (not that I thought they were as far apart as frequently straw-personned in popular discussion). But this video with Hegel brought to mind some very interesting parallels with Buddhist philosophy: Particularly the idea of Inner Spirit (contrast with "Buddha Nature"). Thanks yet again for doing your part to bring public intellectualism back into vogue!

[@petestevens3970]

Thank you.

[@JELEAL]

Great explanation, thanx

[@Tactical_DZ]

I learned a lot from listening to this, thank you.

[@zeldaguy32]

You've done the impossible. You've made Hegel comprehensible. Good job!

[@BobHooker]

Hegel's theory of history is the clear part of his work. His text on History is the one people read and the impact he had. His theory of the self and logic are far harder.

[@entelektuel.yolculuk]

@@BobHooker trve, but it is not trve that his metaphysics and logic did not have impact. But still, there must be much broader impacts on his side, as Foucault also says that we did not even give account of even one sentence of how much Hegel affected our thought.

[@BobHooker]

@@entelektuel.yolculuk his LOGIC CHANGED THE WORLD

[@entelektuel.yolculuk]

@@BobHooker aaa yes? That's exactly what l was trying to say.

[@entelektuel.yolculuk]

@@BobHooker so?

[@lumimo]

Gracias maestra, brillante!

[@englishcoach7772]

Excellent narrative

[@alexelefelt]

Thank you

[@chickenspy1854]

Do you rock climb? I’m just curious because I watch a lot of climbing videos and I’m sure my YT algorithm knows that, but I didn’t think twice clicking on your video because I also love philosophy content. But then you mentioned going climbing and I’m thinking “omg KZbin really has me figured out!” Lol Anyways, regardless of how it happened, I’m glad I found this channel. I’m loving these videos. And it’s inspired me to attempt to read Hegel again.

[@oliverperater3054]

Thank you for this. I had been reading Marx for a while, now I need to understand Hegel as well and this is really helpful.

[@divyanshsh]

i am growing to love hegel

[@Bense8361]

I love you as a person. Your video rocks.

[@man-hotan9152]

Excellent understanding of Hegel. Would also like to know your views on dialectics of nature (Engels/Marx) and Gurdjieff's/Ouspenskian's views on the universe, both have inverted Hegel's philosophy.

[@albertsonntag754]

Thanks!

[@sudarshanbadoni6643]

Thanks. For this reason these vibrant young minds are much more aware and advanced to not only understand such a complex architecture of Hegelian literature are able to simplifying and made us to understand. Me got knocked down while listening a video on Hegelian philosophy and could not understand even a sentence. Thanks again.

[@charitydominusest7641]

Great lecture...would you mind discussing the dialogic pedagogy of Paulo Freire?

[@SunitaDevi-mr9nn]

Thankyou mam:)

[@phillylifer]

I love your channel. Can i suggest you use more textual references?

[@mephesh]

Insightful

[@dad102]

I love this stuff. The intellectual stimulation.

[@davidlee6720]

you are one of the best professors out there in clear exposition .Philosophers are not the best writers out there. They often make things turgid when there is no need, This is the prose they have always read I suppose as it is their own subject . I once read a book by Sir Ernest Gowers called 'The Complete Plain Words' .I think some of these learned characters should have been taught this when young. Bertrand Russell is a good example in how to make these philosophical subjects more digestible and understandable ( and yourself of course.).

[@doyle6000]

very good, thanks

[@thespiritofhegel3487]

I was so happy the day I discovered thesis antithesis synthesis is not Hegel.. I have a bit of a lisp and I hated saying thesis antithesis synthesis but now when talking about Hegel I don't have to say thesis antithesis synthesis because he never did. Great talk by the way, I could listen to you all day.

[@erumkhan6296]

Fantastic

[@gregsteven3762]

The work of C.L.R. James introduced me to Hegel; this video has re kindled that interest. Thank you for sharing.

[@liopergonsd58]

What work