Hegel's 'Individuality'

Zusatztext

<p>This book explores an overlooked area in Hegel studies: his use of individuality (Individualität). Hegel joined a lively conversation, from Leibniz to Romanticism and beyond, about this novel concept/phenomenon. Successive chapters track Hegels engagement, in such texts as the<i>Phenomenology</i>,<i>Encyclopedia</i>, and<i>Aesthetics</i>. Hegels system tends to follow a syllogistic logic (universal, particular, singular), but individuality departs from the norm. The category enacts a certain pragmatics (as against semantics or syntactics) regarding tacit assumptions at work or implicit terms of address, which requires active participation by a thinking subject charged with discerning individuality (which bars resort to explicit rules). The category reflexively implicates the user even in presuming an objective context.</p><p>Individuality should not be confused with individualism, wholly distinct in origin. Moreover, Hegels<i>Aesthetics</i>embraces a paradoxical anachronism. Like art itself, individuality emerged as an essentially modern category, though one transferred to the past and to distant cultures.<br></p><p></p><p><br></p>

Autorenportrait

<b>Martin Donougho</b> is Professor Emeritus in philosophy at the University of South Carolina.

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