Hegel’s Dialectical Logic

This clear, accessible account of Hegelian logic makes a case for its enormous seductiveness, its surprising presence in the collective consciousness, and the dangers associated therewith. Offering comprehensive coverage of Hegel's important works, Bencivenga avoids getting bogged down in short-lived scholarly debates to provide a work of permanent significance and usefulness. "This account of Hegelian logic makes a case for its enormous seductiveness, its surprising presence in the collective consciousness, and the dangers associated therewith. Offering comprehensive coverage of Hegel's important works, Ermanno Bencivenga avoids getting bogged down in short-lived scholarly debates to provide a work of permanent significance and usefulness.". "This study first sets dialectical logic in opposition to its fundamental alternative - Aristotelian, analytic logic - by presenting a concise account of the latter and bringing out the main points of contrast. Bencivenga then introduces Hegel's logic as a semantics of narratives: the initial metaphor is Wittgenstein's family resemblances, which gets articulated by addressing Hegelian absolute idealism. The notion of a narrative is further clarified in terms of (narrative) probability. Bencivenga also discusses both memory and consciousness, and he addresses the puzzle of how spiritual movement can be dominated by necessity and yet be creative at the same time. The book considers the many ways in which Hegel can be conceived to be at the end of history: some much less problematic than ordinarily thought, others responsible for serious intellectual dangers. The book ends with applications of Hegelian logic to the history of philosophy, discursive strategies, and promises, as well as with a final formulation of the challenge presented by the Hegelian viewpoint." "This fresh re-evaluation of the significance of Hegel on the contemporary scene is written in a clear and accessible style, making it excellent reading for philosophers, political scientists, literary theorists, and their students."--BOOK JACKET. Several times over the last ten years, as I painstakingly worked my way through Hegel's corpus, I asked myself what kind of book (if any) I should write about him.