The Philosophy of the History of Philosophy by G. W. F. Hegel

Abstract

In order to prove the fulfillment of Hegel's intentions to raise Philosophy to the level of Science, the current article presupposes as a subject of study the repeated theses in which Hegel affirms, between the succession of the systems of the history of philosophy and the exposition of the Idea of Philosophy , the same development of thinking - with the exception that in the latter the historical exteriority is excluded: the place and the time where these determinations took place. Thus, inspired by this statement, which has proved to be an important key to understanding Hegelianism, it is proposed to recognize such correspondence using both the Lessons on the History of Philosophy and the first volume of the Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sciences. In this way, the investigation will focus on reconciling the clear methodological difference that the said equivalent exposure of thinking acquired in these works, because while in the editions of its Lessons the content (Inhalt) is presented in a linear time / historical series, in the progression of conceptual determinations of the Idea in the Encyclopedia the content is presented in a triadic / spiraling logical sequence, or, as the author himself usually expresses himself, as “a circle of circles” [Kreis von Kreisen]: creating an apparent fragmentation of the unit in this Philosophy 'system of systems' guaranteed.