Zdravko Kobe | The Political Form of the Hegelian Concept

The Political Form of the Hegelian Concept: On the Influence of Spinoza's Political Philosophy on Hegel’s Metaphysics
The constant presence of Spinoza in Hegel’s philosophy is widely acknowledged. It is well known, for instance, that there was a period when Hegel himself endorsed a system that was Spinozist in inspiration. It has equally been demonstrated that Spinoza played a decisive role in the formation of Hegel’s new conception of ethical life in Jena. It is less obvious, however, that Spinoza’s political philosophy might have influenced the development of Hegel’s new conception of the concept, and hence of his entire speculative philosophy. In my contribution I will attempt to validate this thesis. I will try to show, that is, that there is a structural analogy between the two logics of power that Spinoza presents in his Tractatus politicus with reference to aristocracy and monarchy, and the two types of rationality that Hegel describes as understanding and reason. If this relation could be sustained, it would mean not only that Hegel managed to overcome Spinoza (his metaphysics) with the help of Spinoza himself (his political philosophy), but also that political is the very form of Hegel’s concept.
Zdravko Kobe is Professor of Classical German Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He has published the trilogy Automaton transcendentale with a novel interpretation of Kant's theoretical philosophy and Three Studies in Kant's Practical Philosophy, as well as a number of articles, especially on Kant and Hegel, but also on contemporary philosophy. He has also translated several classical philosophical works into Slovenian, including Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and Hegel's Science of Logic and Elements of the Philosophy of Right.
The international philosophical conference Between Substance & Subject. The Presence of Spinoza in Hegel (26-28 October 2023, AGRFT, Ljubljana) was organized by the University of Padua and the University of Ljubljana - Faculty of Arts & Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television. The conference was carried out as part of the project Hegel's Political Metaphysics (J6-2590), which is financed by the Slovenian Research Agency and will continue within the framework of the Hegel Congress 2024.
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