Abstract

The Death of God is a recurrent theme throughout the thought of G. W. F. Hegel. This dissertation examines Hegel's utterance of the death of God in its methodological, biographical, and hermeneutical contexts. By focusing on the issues of language, life, and learning in the work of Hegel, the author presents an integrated perspective on the role of the death of God in Hegel's philosophy as it emerged in the early years at Jena. The Kritische Journal der Philosophie, edited by Hegel and the young Schelling, provided the occasion for the first utterance of the death of God. Hegel's contributions to this journal are examined in full detail, and their connections to the philosopher's later works are indicated. Most especially, attention is drawn to the systematic parallel between the series of journal articles Hegel wrote during his first years at Jena and his first great work, The Phenomenology of Spirit. Thus the author argues that the death of God provides an important index to understanding the system of Hegel's thought. For Hegel's utterance of the death of God in 1802 announced his burgeoning system of speculative discourse, a radically innovative philosophy of language, logic, and life that was to revolutionize, not only philosophy and theology, but more importantly culture itself