Hegel’s Theory Of Normativity: The Systematic Foundations Of The Philosophical Science Of Right

137 Pages·2019·1.653 MB·English

by  Kevin Thompson

Hegel’s Theory of
Normativity

Hegel’s Theory of
Normativity
The Systematic Foundations of the
Philosophical Science of Right
Kevin Thompson
northwestern university press
evanston, illinois
Northwestern University Press
www.nupress.northwestern.edu
Copyright © 2019 by Northwestern University Press.
Published 2019. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Thompson, Kevin (Kevin Brian), author.
Title: Hegel’s theory of normativity : the systematic foundations of the
philosophical science of right / Kevin Thompson.
Description: Evanston, Illinois : Northwestern University Press, 2019. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018056003| ISBN 9780810139923 (paper text : alk.
paper) | ISBN 9780810139930 (cloth text : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780810139947
(e- book)
Subjects: LCSH: Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770– 1831. Grundlinien der
Philosophie des Rechts. | Law— Philosophy. | Natural law. | Normativity (Ethics)
Classification: LCC K230.H43 T46 2019 | DDC 340.112— dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018056003
For Virginia Nell (Hankins) Thompson
1928– 2015

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction
Hegel and the Problem of Normativity 3
Chapter 1
Method 15
Chapter 2
Freedom 39
Chapter 3
Right 65
Conclusion
Hegel’s Critical Theory 83
Notes 97
Bibliography 109
Index 115

Acknowledgments
The following study is part of a longer project devoted to Hegel’s theory
of political sovereignty. It is the product of many years of labor. During
this time, I have had the privilege of developing the ideas in it through
conversations with a large number of colleagues and students and at sev-
eral institutions.
The departments of philosophy at the University of Memphis, where
this project first began, Washington University in St. Louis, Southern Illi-
nois University, and, finally, DePaul University have all supported this
work in various ways. I am immensely grateful to each of them for the
opportunities they afforded me and the collegiality they all displayed;
each of these departments was a rich and distinctive intellectual commu-
nity in which to develop this project.
Among the many colleagues that I have had the privilege of working
with over the years, I want to thank Pauline Kleingeld, Peg Birmingham,
Rick Lee, Pat Werhane, and Will McNeill for their unwavering support.
Two organizations have been immensely helpful to me in my work on this
project: The Hegel Society of America, and especially Stephen Houlgate,
Robert Williams, Angelica Nuzzo, Ken Westphal, but, above all, Ardis
Collins, and the Chicago Area Consortium in German Philosophy, and
its founder and director, Rachel Zuckert. Thank you to Mark Alznauer
for his encouragement and for really making the publication of this book
possible and thanks also to Trevor Perri and Anne Gendler of Northwest-
ern University Press for their graceful shepherding of this project and
their unfailing advice. And I want to especially thank Michael Naas for
the suggestion that made this work possible, and Robert Bernasconi, who
nurtured and continually challenged my ardent devotion to the study of
Hegel’s thought, and in the process taught me everything about what it
means to be a truly critical scholar.
I am immensely grateful for all the students in the Hegel seminars that I
have led at Washington University in St. Louis and at DePaul University for
their questions, their comments, and their challenges to this work. The proj-
ect advanced immeasurably due to their vigorous contributions. I especially
want to thank Sina Kramer, Andrew LaZella, Nathan Ross, Kieran Aarons,
Floyd Wright, Tom Krell, Dilek Huseyinzadegan, Miguel Gualdrón, Owen
Glyn-W illiams, Jacob Singer, Ryan Froese, and Ashley Fleshman.
ix