Phenomenology of Spirit (1807) is perhaps Hegel’s most influential work, especially through Marx’s critique that “stood Hegel on his head”: Marx inverted Hegel’s idealist absolutism into dialectical materialism. In the Phenomenology Hegel describes the dialectical experience and development of consciousness from sense-certainty, perception, understanding and self-consciousness to absolute knowing. Hegel argues in the famous passage titled ‘Lordship and Bondage’ that self-consciousness exists only insofar it exists in the world of others and is acknowledged by others. This idea of subject formation as social, as the need for mutual recognition, has influenced many philosophers, both who … [Read more...] about Anna Rajala – Phenomenology of spirit – 30DoS #12