Philosophy of Right (Hegel - Dover ed.)

Author: G. W. F. Hegel

ISBN: 9780486445632

Binding: paperback

Section: Philosophy/Rhetoric/Logic

In the Philosophy of Right, Hegel applies his most important concept — the dialectics — to law, rights, morality, the family, economics, and the state. Hegel defines universal right as the synthesis between the thesis of an individual acting in accordance with the law and the occasional conflict of an antithetical desire to follow private convictions. The state, he declares, must permit individuals to satisfy both demands, thereby realizing social harmony and prosperity--the perfect synthesis. Further, Hegel renounces his formerly favorable assessment of the French Revolution and rejects the republican form of government, suggesting instead an idealized form of a constitutional monarchy, in which ultimate power rests with the sovereign.