Recovering Hegel from the Critique of Leo Strauss by MacDonald Sara Craig Barry

Author:MacDonald, Sara, Craig, Barry
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2012-03-21T16:00:00+00:00

The Rationality of Desire

Strauss contrasts human freedom with the requirements of human virtue, suggesting that Hegel’s account of freedom is about the license to do what one wants without limit. While ultimately we disagree with this position, one can find ammunition to support this interpretation in Hegel’s political thought. For instance, in The Philosophy of History, Hegel tells us that the transition from one historical period to another is caused by passionate revolutions. Of these, Hegel explains, “When we look at this display of passions, and the consequences of their violence; the Unreason which is associated . . . with them; when we see the evil, the vice, the ruin that has befallen the most flourishing kingdoms which the mind of man has ever created; we can scarce avoid being filled with sorrow at this universal taint of corruption.” History might thus be described as a “slaughter bench.”

Further, as we shall see, the nature of Spirit, and the fulfillment of human nature, requires the integration of individual subjectivity into the objective institutions of our political communities. Self-consciousness, Hegel argues, reconciles the subjective and objective elements of Spirit. When Spirit knows itself, it knows the one objective truth. This truth is its whole. However, when spirit is actualized in human beings, they know the one objective truth as it manifests alongside, and within, their particular consciousness. Hegel argues that the realization of spirit in human consciousness requires incorporating these particular and subjective elements in a real and substantial way. Hence, the state that Hegel describes in The Philosophy of Right recognizes and allows human beings to freely choose and organize most aspects of their lives. For example, even though Hegel does not go so far as to establish equality of men and women, he nonetheless argues that women should be allowed to choose their own husbands, and that, for the most part, people should choose their employments based on personal talents and interests. Strauss correctly notes the emphasis on particularity in Hegel’s account. Yet, the incorporation of human subjectivity is not the unleashing of individual desire that Strauss seems to imply.

This becomes clear in Hegel’s description of passion as the most effective motivator of human action and a means to history’s development. For, as Hegel points out, if the goal of political thought is to transform political life so that it more fully approximates and encourages human happiness then it is not enough to merely know what is best. One must also have the means and the will to act in accordance with what is true. However, to will something is to desire its accomplishment and as Hegel says, “If men are to interest themselves for anything; they must (so to speak) have part of their existence involved in it; find their individuality gratified by its achievement.”[31]

Very few, if any, people can accomplish the ideal of doing what they ought to solely because it is their duty and without achieving any personal satisfaction. Instead, Hegel would say that a person who

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.