Hegel in 90 Minutes

This work is an amusing cutting down to size of the philosophical system - builder whose castles in the air are more immense if not more illuminating than any other. The irrevent and very funny Strathern here takes solemn old George Frederich Wilhelm to task for not understanding that Hume had already made the philosophical enterprise impossible. He amusingly chronicles the plodding polymath Hegel's conquest of the kingdom of philosophy as he also fumbles forward and upward in his pursuit of academic place. A tragic note is the story of the orphaned Hegel's relationship with his devoted sister who essentially goes mad in the course of a life in which her brother makes a new connection, with his wife. As for Hegel's elaboration of Kant, and provision of thesis- antithesis- synthesis, the famed dialectic method that Marx would turn the world upside down with, Strathern is thin on illustrating and demonstrating it. For devouted Hegelians of which there are still probably two or three in the Western world this book is probably an insult. For most of us, those who do not think that the History came to its climax with the nineteenth - century Prussian nation- state, for those who do not think that Philosophy and Mind came to their ultimate revelation in the writings of Hegel this small work is a sensible and sane brief evaluation . One more point. Hegel understood that America was the country to watch in the coming century- he aslo understand that Mankind to be understood has to be understood historically- he probably understood a lot else which I, and possibly even Strahern don't. Perhaps Strahern might have done a bit better had he more emphasized what there is of real value in Hegel.

Strathern is a master at this kind of work, which mixes biography, critical analysis, historical context and humor all in a concise, informative & entertaining package. He lists a time line for the philosopher, his place in world/philosophic history & a selection of works for furthur reading. This series of books by Strathern is a wonderful course in Philosophy 101 without ever having to go to college, all presented in plain, easy to understand English without being bogged down with philosophy's often confusing vernacular.