Product Description

A major and comprehensive study of the philosophy of Hegel, his place in the history of ideas, and his continuing relevance and importance. Professor Taylor relates Hegel to the earlier history of philosophy and, more particularly, to the central intellectual and spiritual issues of his own time. He sees these in terms of a pervasive tension between the evolving ideals of individuality and self-realization on the one hand, and on the other a deeply-felt need to find significance in a wider community. Charles Taylor engages with Hegel sympathetically, on Hegel’s own terms and, as the the subject demands, in detail. We are made to grasp the interconnections of the system without being overwhelmed or overawed by its technicality. We are shown its importance and its limitations, and are enabled to stand back from it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #256632 in Books
• Published on: 1977-05-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 596 pages

Review
"Professor Taylor is a stimulating and lucid guide....His book is to be strongly recommended to anyone who wants to understand the origins and style and content of modern ideologies." The Economist

"...the most important book on Hegel ever to appear in English." Journal of European Studies

Customer Reviews

Excellent introduction to Hegel
While this is indeed an excellent introduction to Hegel (by far the best I've seen and definately worth the money); I was a good deal less impressed by Taylor's attempt to mix critique in with his exposition of Hegel's texts. For the most part he refrains from doing so, but I found that it severely impinged upon the coherence of the book at some points (most notably the first section on the Logic). He also seems, during his final chapter, to jump to conclusions about one of Hegel's followers, Marx: he bases his criticisms solely on one of Marx's works (at his own admission) and generalises therefrom - surely not the most sound way of proceeding. Whilst Taylor is by no means a Heideggerian appropriator of Hegel (as the previous review indicates), I felt that he jumped a little to eagerly at the chance to take a side swipe at Marx. Also, many of his criticisms of Hegel came from a more analytic philosophical standpoint, a factor that did not exactly aid comprehension (since it clashed sharply with the continental brand of thought he was exposing).
Having said all that, however, I would not hesitate to recommend the book since it is by far and away the best and most coherent exposition of Hegel's views on the market.

Comprehensive- an Excellent Introduction
I am not aware of a better introduction to the entire corpus of Hegel's writing. Every major work is competently covered. Perhaps the only criticism is that the work feels a bit dated by Taylor's attempt to portray Hegel as a forefather of a certain type of "democratic" Left movement, then popular when this book was written. I do not think such attempts at appropiation are very useful.

A masterpiece of Hegelian studies
This book is much more than a commentary on the history of ideas, it already expresses the thought of one of the greatest philosophers of the second half of the twentieth century.