According to Hegel’s widely-known and often misinterpreted Doppelsatz, what is rational is actual, and what is actual is rational.1 However we look at the Doppelsatz, it seems to leave aside what we may call “the emotional dimension” of human reality. Indeed, this and other expressions we find in Hegel’s work have led to criticism of his supposedly hyper-rationalist, panlogicist, universalist view of reality. While such criticism has been adequately shown to be superficial and stereotyped, it is also true that much research remains to be done on the emotional dimension of Hegel’s philosophy. My paper contributes to this aim. I will read Hegel in an actualizing perspective and following a pragmatist blueprint. I begin by outlining Hegel’s apparent “double treatment” of the emotional dimension, between appreciation of its role and criticism of its overextension (1). This leads to the discussion of the relationship between the emotional dimension and thinking in Hegel (2), a relationship that can take on different forms, yet is in general to be interpreted in a continuistic sense as the concrete space of human actuality (3). Finally, I substantiate my pragmatist blueprint and the claim of the attractiveness of Hegel’s conception of the emotional dimension through a direct comparison with Dewey’s view of emotions (4).
The Other Side of Actuality? A Pragmatist Reading of Hegel on Emotions and Being Human
Siani, Alberto L.
Primo
2024-01-01
Abstract
According to Hegel’s widely-known and often misinterpreted Doppelsatz, what is rational is actual, and what is actual is rational.1 However we look at the Doppelsatz, it seems to leave aside what we may call “the emotional dimension” of human reality. Indeed, this and other expressions we find in Hegel’s work have led to criticism of his supposedly hyper-rationalist, panlogicist, universalist view of reality. While such criticism has been adequately shown to be superficial and stereotyped, it is also true that much research remains to be done on the emotional dimension of Hegel’s philosophy. My paper contributes to this aim. I will read Hegel in an actualizing perspective and following a pragmatist blueprint. I begin by outlining Hegel’s apparent “double treatment” of the emotional dimension, between appreciation of its role and criticism of its overextension (1). This leads to the discussion of the relationship between the emotional dimension and thinking in Hegel (2), a relationship that can take on different forms, yet is in general to be interpreted in a continuistic sense as the concrete space of human actuality (3). Finally, I substantiate my pragmatist blueprint and the claim of the attractiveness of Hegel’s conception of the emotional dimension through a direct comparison with Dewey’s view of emotions (4).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
