The Presence of Spinoza in Hegel

This volume traces the direct influence of Baruch Spinoza on the philosophical development of G.W.F. Hegel. It is the most comprehensive English-language treatment of the relationship between these two monumental thinkers.

The publication of this volume coincides with the recent discovery of of an early draft of Spinoza’s Ethics, along with the finding of previously unstudied lecture notes of Hegel. These uncovered sources provide new approaches to considering the thought of Spinoza and Hegel. The chapters in this volume explore the multifaceted presence of Spinoza in Hegel. Hegel affirms that the only possible refutation of Spinozism consists in first acknowledging its standpoint as essential and necessary and then raising it to a higher level out of its own resources. In philosophy one is accordingly bound to begin as a Spinozist, but it is of equal importance not to remain one. Furthermore, Hegel’s view that that the true must be comprehended not merely as substance but also as subject may be read in a double reference to Spinoza. Hegel seems to put the task of philosophy in accepting Spinozist metaphysics while preserving the dimensions of freedom, beauty and life that is usually associated with subjectivity, which Spinozism is supposed to lack. It can also be argued that Hegel eventually distanced himself from Spinozist metaphysics under the influence of Spinoza’s own political philosophy. The chapters in this volume analyze these issues and make it clear that Spinoza is present in various forms throughout Hegel’s philosophy, be it as the ideal to strive for or as an adversary to overcome.

The Presence of Spinoza in Hegel is essential resource for scholars and graduate students working in the history of modern philosophy, German idealism, Jewish philosophy, history of metaphysics, and intellectual history.