HEGEL - METHOD

<BODY> <CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>HEGEL</FONT><BR> THE ABSOLUTE IDEALIST</B></FONT></CENTER><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>Method</B></FONT><P> <FONT SIZE=4><B>A PATTERN IN HISTORY</B></FONT><P> <TABLE ALIGN=Left BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=2 CELLPADDING=1> <TR> <TD><IMG ALIGN=Left SRC="1606a.jpg" WIDTH="193" HEIGHT="220" ALT="WHEEL OF FORTUNE"></TD> </TR> </TABLE> Before Hegel, others had tried to see a pattern in history. Most saw such patterns as cyclic. Here, for instance, is history as The Wheel of Fortune (Rota Fortuna). This sees history progressing from peace to wealth, from wealth to pride, from pride to war, from war to poverty, from poverty to humility, from humility to peace. Hegel also saw history as progressing through a series of phases, but not in eternal circles. To Hegel, history had a sense of direction, with the Universal Mind progressing towards a total consciousness of freedom through the process of the dialectic.<BR clear=left> <BLOCKQUOTE>"The history of the world is nothing but the development of the idea of freedom."<P> ("Philosophy of History")</BLOCKQUOTE> <FONT SIZE=4><B>DIALECTIC</B></FONT><BR> The term <A HREF="../t03/g009.html" TARGET="_top">dialectic</A> was not new. The Greeks too had regarded dialectic as the pathway to the highest form of knowledge. Hegel, however, gives the word new meaning. For him, dialectic is more than a method for understanding reality. It is an essential characteristic of reality itself. It is both the rhythmic pattern of human thought and history, and a way of understanding them. This rhythmic pattern is generally characterized as thesis, antithesis and synthesis. It is a system of thought based on the resolution and reconciliation of conflicting opposites. Through the dialectic method, Hegel is able to construct an all-embracing philosophy incorporating all aspects of reality into a meaningful totality. <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>