'Hegel argues that the history of civilizations is the history of Essay

Hegel argues that the fib of civilizations is the history of Reason and perspicaciousity permeating mankind To what extent is h - Essay ExampleUsing Horkheimer and Adorno, it will be argued that human spirit cannot be completely subjected, and second, that the elimination of superstition has also brought about the subjugation of nature in general. Therefore, there is a progress of reason, but some important limitations too so it cannot be maintained to have completely permeated humankind. For Hegel, history is the succession of storeys of consciousness, and these stages of consciousness culminate in a conceit which might be said to be a universality of reason or a notion reflecting wide-scale enlightenment.Hegel, 1952 216. To realize universal reason, is to understand history, and to have therefore, self-understanding. Hegel addresses the nature of history at the end of the Philosophy of Right. Concerning these stages, Hegel identifies four main periods. These are the Oriental realm, the Greek Realm, the Roman realm, and finally the Germanic realm Hegel, 1995 220-223. Of the first realm, he states that they are both indicative of natural and patriarchal communities. Further, he identifies these as forms of consciousness where pantheistic views of nature dominate all forms of explanations, and indeed, where history itself is poetry Hegel, 1952 222. While the Greeks eliminate many of the limitations of the irrational that preceded them, they still had slavery which he suggests that as being a compromise of freedom. Slaves, for example, are like Oedipus before he discovered his own identity. In other words, if history is about entrepot or recollection, and it is about self consciousness or self awareness, then, in this regard we can understand how a confederacy with slaves cannot be a society with universal reason. Slaves are denied the possibility of real self understanding, but by virtue of being enslaved. Reason is essential to freedom Gallagher, 1997 128. The second last stage is the Roman realm which like the Greeks is a divided society. First, he argues that there is equality and private rights, however, the nature of the relations among individuals is both formal and abstract Hegel, 1952 221-2. A division persists between the classes, however, the division in the Roman realm is between those who detect there intuition or senses (superstition), and those who use reason and self-understanding as a guiding principle. Hegel, 1952 221. In this sense, Rome had an educated elite, but an un-educated and superstitious majority. In the Germanic realm, reason is reconciled with irrationality. This occurs in a two-fold sense, according to Hegel. First, those who follow passion, belief, sensation or the law of the heart, become elevated toward the head, so to speak. Second, reason which had been abstracted from the senses becomes embodied in this world. There exists a mutual recognition in each others rational capacities, and this mutua l recognition entails that universality is no longer abstract, but rather, manifest in a community of rational individuals Pinkard, 2002 160. For Horkheimer and Adorno, the progress of reason is also viewed as a product of the Enlightenment, however, the progress is viewed as a means of subjugation rather than emancipation. While the progress of history promises the emancipation of people through enlightenment and reason,