In philosophy, dialectic means a lot of things to a lot of different people. It is, in its most simple form, the understanding of when two parties engage with one another in an inquiry or conflict that, upon finishing, leads to a closer understanding of the truth. We should avoid applying the Hegelian and Marxist … Continue reading Dialectic in the Hebrew Bible
Dialectic
Understand Hegel in a Half Hour!
Georg W.F. Hegel is the most influential and consequential philosopher of modernity. In this half hour lecture (37 minutes, actually), I provide a concise summary of the whole of Hegel's systematic philosophy by bringing together his Phenomenology of Spirit; Elements of the Philosophy of Right; Lectures on the Philosophy of History. In reading Hegel we … Continue reading Understand Hegel in a Half Hour!
Simone de Beauvoir: “The Woman Destroyed”
The third story of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Woman Destroyed, aptly titled “The Woman Destroyed,” puts to poetic-diary story the essence of Beauvoir’s existential and Marxian feminism. Through the course of the entries we learn that the narrator, Monique, is trapped madly in love with a bourgeois careerist man – “the serious man” – Maurice. Their relationship, if … Continue reading Simone de Beauvoir: “The Woman Destroyed”
Beauvoir: “The Second Sex” (The Woman Destroyed)
“The word ‘love’ has not at all the same meaning for both sexes, and this is a source of the grave misunderstandings that separate them. Byron rightly said that love is merely an occupation in the life of the man, while it is life itself for the woman.” This are the opening sentences to Beauvoir’s … Continue reading Beauvoir: “The Second Sex” (The Woman Destroyed)
Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex (Introduction)
Simone de Beauvoir stands alongside Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus as the trinity of French existentialist writers that most people will encounter in their dealings with modern 20th century existentialism after Heidegger. Influenced by philosophers like Augustine, Hegel, Marx, and Heidegger, the French existentialists took their intellectual forebears and turned them in new directions. Simone … Continue reading Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex (Introduction)
Shulamith Firestone’s “Dialectic of Sex”
Shulamith Firestone is one of the most important, if not the most important, feminist philosopher of the 20th century. Though little known to most, she is required reading in most gender studies and women’s studies courses. Her most famous work was published when she was 25 years old: The Dialectic of Sex. In her work she synthesizes … Continue reading Shulamith Firestone’s “Dialectic of Sex”
Hegel’s Social and Political Theory
Hegel’s social and political philosophy was of profound importance in mid nineteenth century Germany, especially within the Kingdom of Prussia where he spent his latter days. It is sometimes said that Hegel believed Prussia was the end of history, that Prussia was the fulfillment of the socio-political, constitutional, and ethical progression of the Spirit in … Continue reading Hegel’s Social and Political Theory
Ibn Khaldun: Geopolitics, Geo-Dialectics, and Environmental Conditioning
Ibn Khaldun was a son of modest aristocratic family that, through merit, had risen to prominent positions within the Hasfid Dynasty in Tunisia. His actual family roots go further back into Islamic Spain but, as the Reconquista gained steamed his family left for North Africa and this set Ibn Khaldun off on a travelling adventure … Continue reading Ibn Khaldun: Geopolitics, Geo-Dialectics, and Environmental Conditioning
German Idealism, From Kant to Hegel, Part 5: Hegel
While Johann Fichte and Friedrich Schelling were luminaries of German idealism in their time, the most famous son of German Idealism known to posterity is Georg W.F. Hegel. Hegel did not share the same early fame as Fichte and Schelling and only became a major figure in German philosophy with the publication of his famous … Continue reading German Idealism, From Kant to Hegel, Part 5: Hegel
Augustine’s City of God, X: Understanding Augustine’s “Dialectic”
Augustine is sometimes seen as the father of dialectical philosophy and theology in the Christian tradition. While there is already an inkling of dialectical thought throughout the Bible, and the New Testament letters—especially Paul—it is Augustine’s City of God that begins the most robust effort at understanding this so-called dialectic of light and darkness, sin … Continue reading Augustine’s City of God, X: Understanding Augustine’s “Dialectic”
