Hegel's reluctant realism and the transnationalisation of civil society

Jaeger, Hans-Martin

doi:10.1017/s0260210502004977

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…But the unity of the body is essential to the health, and if its parts grow internally hard, the result is death” ( PR §324). War serves as a political educator for citizens of the modern state, reminding them that their good is tied to the good of the state as a whole (S. Smith 1983, 625; Jaeger 2002, 508). Because of this, Hegel continues, “Not only do peoples emerge from wars with added strength, but nations troubled by civil dissension gain internal peace as a result of wars with their external enemies” ( PR §324A).…”

Section: War and Innenpolitikmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hegel, History, Hostility: The Persistence of War in Hegel’s Political Philosophy

Clarkson

2023

Political Research Quarterly

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The return of war in Europe has renewed the urgency of understanding war’s role in the interstate system. Although many theorists take a progressive view in which war is withering away, others argue war remains a recurrent feature of political life. This article contributes to theoretical debates about war’s ongoing significance by systematically reconstructing Hegel’s theory of war and its relevance for understanding war’s persistence. Historically, Hegel thinks war has taken increasingly rational forms over time, though, contrary to optimistic interpretations, this points to enmity’s distillation rather than its elimination. Causally, Hegel suggests war occurs because the lack of a power above states capable of adjudicating conflicting rights and the consequent struggle to enforce one’s formally valid claims against those who could substantively deny them. Ethically, Hegel holds war is a necessary evil which, abstractly, ought to end. However, since war teaches citizens that their good is tied to the good of the community as a whole, thereby restraining civil society’s encroachments on the political, Hegel denies the end of war would be an absolute ethical good. By systematically reconstructing Hegel’s views on war, this article sheds new light on war’s role in the system of European states.

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Section: War and Innenpolitikmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hegel, History, Hostility: The Persistence of War in Hegel’s Political Philosophy

Clarkson

2023

Political Research Quarterly

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“…Limited war has a high potential for decadence, because a call to virtue in such a war could appear cynical without an actual threat of loss of freedom and nullification of right. The citizens would be unstuck from their ‘ways’ ( PR : §324) after a long peace, but without plausible consequences, the test would appear fake, and war itself pointlessly detrimental to existing commercial ties, something Hegel considers as well (on this ambivalence, see Jaeger 2002: 514). Total war—farthest removed from decadence—presupposes a campaign of mutual destruction of competing social orders, something the bourgeois are not good at, because as the Jacobins have shown, they end up destroying themselves.…”

Section: Three Warsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Roman Courage and Constitution in Hegel's Philosophy of Right

Hristov¹

2022

Hegel Bulletin

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This article argues that the citizens of Hegel's state cannot maintain themselves as politically free because they are susceptible to mutual enslavement. I demonstrate this by focusing on the Roman republican background of Hegel's constitution, the potential trajectory of its dissolution and the accompanying means of its cyclical fortification through courage. Hegel, by integrating aspects of the Roman mixed constitution also adopts the idea of decadence within his conception of civil society. After locating the source of decadence in the contractual relations of peace and the bourgeois inability to overcome the fear of death, I go on to argue that war for Hegel provides a theatre where freedom may be regenerated through courage. However, I also show that modern wars do not provide sufficient means of perpetuating Hegel's constitution. To demonstrate this, I distinguish three forms of war: colonial, limited and total war, arguing that only the latter offers a solution to decay of political disposition and loss of freedom, but that—by being itself susceptible to decadence—it cannot salvage Hegel's state from dissolution and reduction to contractual relations.

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“…Aynı şekilde, E. H. Carr da devletler arasındaki ilişkilere hiçbir etik kuralın uygulanamayacağına ilişkin realist yaklaşımın en kapsamlı örneğinin Hegel'de gözlenebileceğini ileri sürmektedir (Carr, 1946: 153;Jaeger, 2002: 497: Yalvaç, 2009Yalvaç, 2008: 5). Bu anlamda Hegel, Carr tarafından, Machiavelli, Spinoza ve Hobbes ile aynı kategoride bulunabilecek kadar sert bir realist olarak tanımlanmaktadır (Brooks, 2012: 72;Carr, 1946: 153).…”

Section: çOk Sayida Hegel Yorumu Olmasina Dai̇runclassified

“…Aynı şekilde, E. H. Carr da devletler arasındaki ilişkilere hiçbir etik kuralın uygulanamayacağına ilişkin realist yaklaşımın en kapsamlı örneğinin Hegel'de gözlenebileceğini ileri sürmektedir (Carr, 1946: 153;Jaeger, 2002: 497: Yalvaç, 2009Yalvaç, 2008: 5) (Brooks, 2012: 72;Carr, 1946: 153). Yine, Benedetto Croce de Hegel'in savaşı uluslararası anlaşmazlıkların tek çözümü olarak gördüğünü aktarmaktadır (Croce, 1945: 75;Mitias, 1984: 37).…”

Section: çOk Sayida Hegel Yorumu Olmasina Dai̇runclassified

Hegel’s Philosophy of International Law

Güneysu

2020

International Journal of Social Inquiry

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There is a great variety of comments on Hegel and as to where one should place him on an IR theory spectrum. Many see in Hegel a precursor of the Realist School of International Relations. Fewer scholars, though, attribute Hegel a liberalistic worldview, turning him into a liberal IR forerunner. Amid all these different takes on him, this paper aims to elaborate Hegel's philosophy on the state, civil society, international law and the importance of recognition therein. Hegelian concept of state is one of an absolute. The state is in need of bureaucratic cadres, entrusted with significant duties. However, civil society and relations developed within it are of utmost significance, as well. The latter is not destined, under all circumstances, to be dispensed with in the favour of the former one. On the contrary, just as it is the case in civil society, the institution of recognition plays an important role on international political fora. As a result of recognition, states see each other as equal others, i.e. states; which will contribute to the observation of a core of principles and rules. Toward the end of the paper, I shall endeavor to compare Hegelian thought with the basic premises of Realism. The crucial criterion here proves to be the level and the scope of significance attached to the Hegelian notions of the state and the civil society.

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Hegel's reluctant realism and the transnationalisation of civil society

Cited by 15 publications

References 4 publications

Hegel, History, Hostility: The Persistence of War in Hegel’s Political Philosophy

Hegel, History, Hostility: The Persistence of War in Hegel’s Political Philosophy

Roman Courage and Constitution in Hegel's Philosophy of Right

Hegel’s Philosophy of International Law

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