Hegel and the Problem of the History of Philosophy: The Logical Structure of Exemplarity

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Drawing on the work of major philosophers in 18th and 19th-century German idealism, Thomas Raysmith critically examines G. W. F. Hegels justification that philosophy has a history. Contrary to Kants claims, Hegel not only considered philosophy as a discipline with its own history, but also elaborated a logical structure associated with the fundamental nature of thought itself, permitting a history of philosophy. Calling this structure the structure of exemplarity, Raysmith presents it as a dynamic reciprocity between universality, particularity and singularity. He provides a historical reconstruction of the shifting understanding of the fundamental nature of human thought from Kant, through J. G. Fichte and F. W. J. Schelling, to Hegels mature logic. He offers a systematic analysis based on close, critical readings of Hegels work, specifically his Science of Logic. Offering a compelling and novel reading of Hegels thought, Hegel and the Problem of the History of Philosophy is a groundbreaking work for students and scholars of German idealism and the history of philosophy more broadly.

Author Bio

Thomas Raysmith is Lecturer in Philosophy at Bard College Berlin, Germany.