Hegel's Philosophy of Politics: Idealism, Identity, and Modernity

This valuable book makes a significant contribution to the current revival of interest in Hegel. Brod demonstrates the central unifying role the collective historical social consciousness plays in Hegel's thought. But far from leading to totalitarian conclusions, this emphasis upon the social actually leads Hegel toward a "third way" between the anarchic individualism of unregulated market structures and the repressive collectivism of unopposed state power. Similarly, Hegel can be seen as a potentially moderating influence on his two quarrelsome offspring, Marxism and liberalism. Hegel emerges here as a thinker with relevance for our own time, with lessons for current communitarian critiques of liberalism, the revolutions in Eastern Europe, modern jurisprudence, and feminist theory. A virtue of Brod's treatment is its clarity and lack of jargon. Hegel receives a welcome demystification that leaves his political philosophy stronger and more viable rather than diminished.