One senses that in our world order today, something is shifting. The joists are loosening and the roof is leaking.
The openness under the rule of law, which gave order to our post-World War II international system and hopes for resilient and flourishing open societies thriving under human rights ideals, seems to be fading as both an ideal and a reality. New paradigms for national cultures and politics are being pressed, which are less reassuring than before, less optimistic than we need to be and more cynical about human nature.
In reacting to the anxieties, I have read noting this shift in conditions, I recalled the proposals of Hegel for using the mind to find conceptions, notions, conceits, (Begriff) which allow us to align with absolute essence.
So many of the arguments and debates happening before our eyes today Invoke Hegelian Begriffs that we might want to take a new look at Hegel.
After re-reading Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit, I wrote down some concerns as to his dominant influence over our modern civilization and its disaffections.
You can find my short essay here.
Please let me know if you think I have missed the mark.