The State and Civil Society:Studies in Hegel's Political Philosophy

This book discusses the state and civil society which were distinguished by Hegel as two stages in the dialectical development from the family to the nation.

Z. A. Pelczynski (Author)

9780521289696, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 1 November 1984

340 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.44 kg

The state and civil society were first distinguished by Hegel in The Philosophy of Right as two stages in the dialectical development from the family to the nation. The distinction has remained perhaps the most vital of Hegel's discoveries in political philosophy, though its importance is not confined to the interpretation of Hegel's own views. The essays in this volume, focus on this distinction in their consideration of Hegel's political philosophy - his attempted (re)construction of modern ethical life. Not all the contributors agree in their assessment of Hegel, and they approach his views from a number of directions: setting them against their historical background, critically interpreting them in the context of his own thought and of the subsequent tradition, and evaluating how far they help us to understand present social reality. In past years Hegel's political thought has been the subject of a remarkable growth of interest.

Preface
Introduction: the significance of Hegel's separation of the state and civil society Z. A. Pelczynski
1. From self-consciousness to community: act and recognition in the master-slave relationship J. M. Bernstein
3. Hegel, Plato and Greek 'sittlichkeit' M. J. Inwood
4. Political community and individual freedom in Hegel's philosophy of state Z. A. Pelczynski
5. Hegel's radical idealism: family and state as ethical communities Merold Westphal
6. Hegel's concept of the state and Marx's early critique K.-H. Ilting
7. Towards a new systematic reading of Hegel's Philosophy of right Klaus Harmann
8. Propaganda and analysis: the background to Hegel's article on the English Reform Bill M. J. Petry
9. Obligation, contract and exchange: on the significance of Hegel's abstract right Seyla Benhabib
10. Hegel on work, ownership and citizenship Alan Ryan
11. Subjectivity and civil society Garbis Kortian
12. The dialectic of civil society K.-H. Ilting
13. Hegel on identity and legitimation Raymond Plant
14. Economy, utility and community in Hegel's theory of civil society A. S. Walton
15. Nation, civil society, state: Hegelian sources of the Marxian non-theory of nationality Z. A. Pelczynski
Notes
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP]