Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich (1770–1831)A German idealist philosopher whose major influence on the development of sociological thought has been through Karl Marx and Marxism. He developed a philosophy of history, particularly of the history of thought, which he saw as a determinant of social and political history. History is seen as a dialectical movement towards rational truth. This involves an initial standpoint (the thesis) that is partial and generates a counter-position (its antithesis). The two partial truths are reconciled in a synthesis of the two that is an improvement that, nevertheless, remains a partial view in the longer term. Truth is seen in relation to a totality in which the meaning of each proposition depends upon its relationship to others. The movement of history is then seen as the estrangement or objectification of the mind...
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