Lectures on the Philosophy of History
by G. W. F. Hegel · Vorlesungen über die Philosophie der Geschichte
Assigned by 3 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- lectures 1822-1831, published 1837
- Form
- Treatise
- Language
- German
- Length
- Long · 460 pp300 to 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Difficult4 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Philosophy of History, translated by J. SibreeDover, 1956The complete Sibree translation is the one in Great Books; Leo Rauch's Hackett Introduction covers the part most courses read.
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Lectures Hegel gave five times in Berlin, compiled from his notes and students' transcripts after his death. The long introduction argues that history is the progress of the consciousness of freedom, that reason governs the world, and that great individuals and whole peoples serve ends they do not understand. The body of the lectures then surveys world history as a sequence of civilisations, the Oriental world, Greece, Rome and the Germanic Christian world, in which freedom passes from one man to some men to all.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Lectures on the Philosophy of History are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
