Foundations of Hegel's Social Theory: Actualizing Freedom

353 Pages·2000·12.85 MB·English

by  Frederick Neuhouser

F0UNOATIONS0FHEGEL'S SOCIALTHE0RY

FOUNDATIONS OF
HEGEL'S SOC IALTHE 0RY
Actualizing Freedom
FREDERICK NEUHOUSER
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
Copyright©2000bythePresidentandFellowsofHarvardCollege
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStates0fAmerica
Thisbookhasbeendigitallyreprinted.Thecontent
remainsidenticaltothatofpreviousprintings.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-inPublicationData
Neuhouser,Frederick.
FoundationsofHegel'ssocialtheory:actualizingfreedom/
FrederickNeuhouser.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-674-00152-4(cloth)
ISBN0-674-01124-4(paper)
1.Hegel,GeorgWilhelmFriedrich,1770-1831-Contributionsinsociology
2.Socialsciences-Germany-Philosophy-History-19thcentury.
3.Sociology-Germany-History-19thcentury. 1.Title.
HM477.G3N48 2000
301'.01-dc21 00-020264
For my motherandfather

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Iwouldlike to expressmygratitudeto themanyindividualsandinstitu
tions who have contributed to the writing ofthis book. I am especially
indebted to the three philosophers whose teaching, writings, and criti
cism of my work have most shaped my understanding of Hegel: Ray
mond Geuss, AllenWood, andMichaelTheunissen. Inaddition to read
ing and criticizing large portions of this manuscript, each has been a
living example to me ofhow Hegel and the philosophical tradition that
follows from him can be fruitfully appropriated through a combination
ofsympathyand analytic rigor.
I am also indebted to Bill Bristow, who painstakingly checked all of
the book's notes and polished its German translations. More important,
myconversationswithBillduringthepasttenyearsareamongthemost
philosophically rewarding I have known; they have played an immea
surable role in shaping my interpretation ofHegel. Michael Hardimon
has been a constant source of good ideas and imaginative suggestions
since Ibegan this project. I am grateful to him for his detailed criticism
ofmywork, aswellasfor ourmanyjointreadingprojects,whichgreatly
sharpened my understanding ofHegel (and others). I am also much in
debted to David Brink, Dudley Knowles, Tony Laden, and Robert Pip
pin, who read and helpfully commented on large portions ofthe manu
script.
lowe a different kind of intellectual debt to Ann Robertson, whose
classes onMarxandKantatWabash Collegefirst arousedmyinterestin
Continental social philosophy and taught me to strive for clarity and
precision. Herideas andstyleinform thisstudyinways thatmaybe dif
ficult to seebutare real nonetheless.
Mostofmyideasin thisbookwerebornandattainedwhatevermatu
rity they have during the period 1988-1995, when I regularly taught
VIII Acknowledgments
courses onHegelandRousseau atHarvardUniversity. lowemygreatest
intellectual debt to the scores ofstudents in those classes who patiently
enduredmyattempts to articulatewhatIdidnotunderstandandpersis
tentlyplaguedmewith questions Icouldnotanswer.
In addition, I would like to thank the Alexander von Humboldt
Stiftung for its generous financial support of two separate research
leavesinBerlin,duringwhichIwrotealargepartofthebook'sfirstdraft.
Iamalso grateful to the editors ofThe Philosophical Review and the Bul
letin oftheHegel Society ofGreatBritain, who publishedearlyversions of
two ofthe chapters ofthisbookand graciouslygave their permission to
reprint them in modified form here. Chapter 3 was first published as
"Freedom, Dependence, and the General Will" in The Philosophical Re
view 102 Ouly 1993),andpartofchapter7appearedas "EthicalLifeand
the Demands ofConscience," in the Bulletin oftheHegel Society ofGreat
Britain37 (May 1998).
lowe a personal debt to Eleanor Schuker, of New York, and Steven
Cooper, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, whose weekly (and often more
frequent) conversations with me taught me the value of knowing my
own particularity. My contact with them not only transformed me per
sonally but also altered my philosophical outlook in ways they cannot
possibly know. I am also grateful to Uday Dhar, who was an unfailing
source of encouragement, companionship, and intellectual stimulation
during the early years of this project; without him this book would
never havebeenstarted.
Finally, toJason Hill, my companion and secret sharer, I express my
deepestgratitude for upsettingmylifewhen Ineededitmost, for show
ingmenewwaysofdoingphilosophy, and, mostimportant, forbringing
me to myself.
CONTENTS
Abbreviations ofWorks Cited xi
Introduction 1
Hegel's ConceptionofSocialFreedom: Preliminaries 17
2 Rousseau: Freedom, Dependence, and the GeneralWill 55
3 TheSubjective ComponentofSocialFreedom 82
4 ObjectiveFreedom, PartI:
TheSelf-DeterminingSocialWhole 114
5 ObjectiveFreedom, PartII:
Social Conditions ofIndividuals' Freedom 145
6 Hegel'sSocialTheoryandMethodologicalAtomism 175
7 ThePlace ofMoralSubjectivityinEthicalLife 225
Notes 283
Index 333