Between Tradition and Revolution: The Hegelian Transformation of Political Philosophy [Book Review]

The great philosophers defy definition. Every age, every change in the political and moral climate induces a reevaluation, gives us the possibility of a new perspective, and raises our interest in a neglected aspect of the philosopher’s thought. How deeply subject we are to time and the ambience it creates is clearly seen by the fact that we are condemned, like Sisyphus, to carry the fallen stone again and again to the top. With Hegel we are bound to imitate the work of Sisyphus, believing that we have given him the proper interpretation and knowing at the same time that what we have done will necessarily be surpassed. Manfred Riedel, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Erlangen, has found, through that communicative vehicle of translation, the possibility of giving us the results of a book he published in 1969. It is a work of tantalizing scholarship that will satisfy the pleasures of those readers who delight in the philosopher’s ability to be exhaustive and exquisitely detailed as he strives for novelty and develops his thesis. The pleasures of scholarship found in this book are an exemplification of their finest products. No one can read this volume without finding a detail that he or she did not know or a definition of an Hegelian term he or she has interpreted differently or even superficially. Hegel scholars will find their master beautifully served in this volume.