Subjects in the Ancient and Modern World : On Hegel's Theory of Subjectivity

Being a subject and being conscious of being one are different realities. According to Hegel, the difference is not only conceptual, but also influences people's experience of the world and of one another. This book aims to explain some basic aspects of Hegel's conception of subjectivity with particular regard to the difference he saw in ancient and modern ways of thinking about and acting as individuals, persons and moral subjects. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 10 List of Abbreviations......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 1 A Philosophy of the History of Philosophy......Page 26 1.1 Movement and moments of truth......Page 31 (i) Organicism......Page 36 (ii) Speculation......Page 38 (iii) Externality and inwardness......Page 40 1.2 Logic and chronology......Page 42 (i) A space and time for thinking......Page 44 (ii) From knowing substance to knowing subject......Page 46 1.3 Completions and transitions in philosophy......Page 48 2 The Experience of Thought......Page 52 2.1 'Enmattered forms' or thoughtful sensibility......Page 54 2.2 Historical subjectivity and absolute subject matter......Page 61 2.3 Reason and the rational......Page 67 (i) Self-assertion and self-confinement of reason......Page 69 (ii) Existing reason......Page 74 (i) Determinations of the understanding......Page 78 (ii) Concepts of reason......Page 79 (iii) A self-positing concept......Page 81 3 Conceptualizing Thought......Page 83 3.1 How thought differs from being and essence......Page 85 (i) Inward determination......Page 96 (ii) Inherent negativity......Page 98 (iii) The Concept as syllogism......Page 100 4 Hegel's Reading of Plato's Parmenides......Page 109 4.1 An ancient concept of 'idea'......Page 110 4.2 With what must Plato's dialectic begin?......Page 113 4.3 The one that is not one......Page 121 5 Greek Moral Vocabulary: 'Shame is the greatest compulsion'......Page 126 5.1 Apology: hearkening to the few......Page 133 5.2 Crito: hearkening to a daimon......Page 137 5.3 Contradiction in the city: the enemy within......Page 142 (i) What the city lacks: a universal without individuality......Page 144 (ii) What the slave lacks: an individual without universality......Page 148 5.4 Gifts of fortune, not deeds of will......Page 150 6 Dialectic Matters: Starting Out with Simple Motion......Page 162 (i) A continuum of continuity and discreteness......Page 169 (ii) An intuition of infinitesimal motion......Page 172 (i) Motion in the Phoronomy......Page 174 (ii) Motion in the Antinomy......Page 180 6.3 Contradiction in motion: Hegel......Page 181 (i) Motion, grasped......Page 182 (ii) Contradiction, subjective and objective......Page 184 (iii) A Parmenidean beyond Parmenides......Page 186 Notes......Page 192 Works Cited......Page 230 C......Page 234 H......Page 235 K......Page 236 P......Page 237 S......Page 238 Z......Page 240 Subjects In The Ancient And Modern World Investigates Hegel's Concept Of Subjectivity Through An Indirect Approach (repeatedly Suggested By Hegel Himself), Namely By Contrasting Modern With Ancient Understandings Of Persons And Subjects. The Essays Collected Here Are Based On The Methodological Assumption That Hegel's Account Of Subjectivity, As Of Everything Else In The Realphilosophie, Cannot Be Fully Understood Without Including His Logical-metaphysical Analysis Of Categories Needed To Think About The Topic At Issue. Neither Can One Do Justice To Hegel's Conception Without Highlighting The Developmental And Historical Dimension Of What Being-subject Has Meant And Means. Thus, This Book Addresses First Hegel's Idea Of An Intimate Connection Between The History And Internal Logic Of Philosophic Concepts; Subsequently, It Outlines Hegel's Theory Of Thought And Of The Subject That Does The Thinking; Finally, It Illustrates Hegel's Conception Through Critical Readings Of Selected Texts Of Greek Philosophy, Mainly By Plato And Aristotle.--jacket. 1. A Philosophy Of The History Of Philosophy -- 2. The Experience Of Thought -- 3. Conceptualizing Thought -- 4. Hegel's Reading Of Plato's Parmenides -- 5. Greek Moral Vocabulary : 'shame Is The Greatest Compulsion' -- 6. Dialectic Matters : Starting Out With Simple Motion. Allegra De Laurentiis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 217-220) And Index. Hegel's Theory of Subjectivity investigates Hegel's concept of subjectivity through an indirect approach (repeatedly suggested by Hegel himself), namely by contrasting modern with ancient understandings of persons and subjects. The essays collected here are based on the methodological assumption that Hegel's account of subjectivity, as of everything else in the Realphilosophie, cannot be fully understood without including his logical-metaphysical analysis of categories needed to think about the topic at issue. Neither can one do justice to Hegel's conception without highlighting the developmental and historical dimension of what being-subject has meant and means. Thus, this book addresses first Hegel's idea of an intimate connection between the history and internal logic of philosophic concepts; subsequently, it outlines Hegel's theory of thought and of the subject that does the thinking; finally, it illustrates Hegel's conception through critical readings of selected texts of Greek philosophy, mainly by Plato and Aristotle